A successful woman in love tries to break her family curse of every first marriage ending in divorce, by dashing to the alter with a random stranger before marrying her boyfriend.

In this experimental short by Julie Dash -- which is one of the first experimental films by a Black woman filmmaker -- dancer Linda Martina Young interprets the same-titled ballad by Nina Simone and embodies the spirits of four women: Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Sweet Thing and Peaches. These women represent common stereotypes of Black women attempting to survive in America.

A nun in Uganda is consumed by fear and doubt about her decision to take the solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Her anguish intensifies night after night as she lies on a hard bed in her small room at the convent and listens to the rhythmic, beckoning drums of her village. Adapted from a short story by Alice Walker, the film was a deliberate first move by director Julie Dash toward narrative filmmaking, The work precedes and anticipates...

So we meet the characters one at a time. Bogart is grumbling about everything being so late. Robby has been in a state of sustained carnival wonder since the early 80s. Paul is jammin’ in Trinidad with Mac Farlane for the first time, lookin’ forward to the party. Jhawhan is a folk dancer with dreams of being the king of carnival. Brian is ambitious and determined and Jenette is a first-time costume maker with stars in her eyes and memories of...