Sylvie also reflects so many women who are trying to make their mark on the world. “I think she’s somebody who is very ambitious, not just in her career but in her personal life,” Thompson explained. “She someone who’s very curious, which I love. I think my least favorite thing is an incurious person, and she’s curious about her potential, and I think she’s someone that is incredibly spirited, and she finds sort of a twin flame in Robert.”
Set against a backdrop of vibrant, colorful, happy people, Sylvie and Robert’s love story takes place at a time when glamour was in full swing. What makes the film so special is that it focuses the lens squarely on the couple’s romance without the trauma connected to the racial animus of the times — a rarity for Black art. That was intentional, said Eugene Ashe, the film’s writer and director. “It’s a love letter to Black folks and to Black love, but it’s one that I want everybody to read,” he explained. “And the way that you do that is by having a universal theme. Everybody can relate to that first love.”
Thompson agrees and said she drew on her own past relationships to inform her performance. “There is a lot in this story that people can relate to,” she said.”Love is hard. You might find someone and feel this spark, and you don’t know why you feel it, and it’s hard to navigate how to do that sometimes. I thought a lot about that — my own love stories — the ones that worked out. That’s what I’m thinking about.”
Words by Jeandra LeBeauf
Images by Andrew Hreha
