Grammy winner Beyoncé Knowles-Carter produced and directed Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. This film highlights the recent tour for her album, Renaissance. The tour held 56 performances in 39 cities with guest appearances from Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar, Megan thee Stallion and Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, among others.This film shows the many performances within this tour but also gives the audience a transparent look into the production and motivation for the tour. We watch Beyoncé direct while also being the main star. The film shows her being a mother, a daughter, a wife and even just a black woman trying to succeed. Beyoncé shows scenes of recovering from a recent knee injury and even intimate moments with her daughter after reading bad comments about her performance. We saw her cry from exhaustion but also immediately let it go when it was time to perform.
Beyoncé explained that the reason she chose the name Renaissance was because it meant the beginning and rebirth. She believed that this was her moment to start a new era within her career, one that had a bigger impact on her “BeyHive.”
During the film, Beyoncé states the motivation and inspiration for her music and career was that she wanted everyone to feel included and appreciated.She dedicated this tour to her late Uncle Johnny, who conquered being a black queer man during the 1950’s. Her uncle Johnny introduced young Beyoncé to creative fashion and music.
Beyoncé said that she wanted to include different forms of art to connect with her audience. In her tour, Beyoncé incorporated vogue, a creative style of dance that originated from African American and Latino LGBTQ members. She gave her many background dancers the opportunity to vogue on the runway and receive the recognition they deserve. With narration from Kevin JZ Prodigy, who Beyoncé called the “heartbeat” of her tour, this film touched the hearts of many people in need of some reassurance and motivation to keep going.
Beyoncé also incorporated many trends to help promote the tour, one of my favorites being “Look around everybody on mute.” This was a contest between cities to see which state could get the quietest during the performance and created a family environment among the “BeyHive.” My favorite part of the film was seeing everybody who made the tour happen. All of her backup dancers had blonde hair just like her but I liked how everybody was different. There were different races, sizes and hairstyles; one musician was even pregnant. Nobody looked the same. All the people on the tour stated that it became a family, and they all felt welcome. Overall, I truly enjoyed the film and recommend watching it.
