Garcelle Beauvais talks ‘Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie’
"We wanted to highlight the college experience and the trappings that can happen," Beauvais tells theGrio exclusively. "It's a cautionary tale to protect us.”
Garcelle Beauvais is ready to change not only the culture but society at large with her newest Lifetime film, “Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie.”
The actress, who serves as an executive producer on the project, is using her Lifetime partnership to shine a light on the often underreported cases of missing Black girls and women and the systemic inequalities that those girls and women face. “Abducted” follows an ambitious college student named Shannon (Tanyell Quian) who is struggling to pay her college tuition.
When she suddenly disappears, Shannon’s college counselor, Ellen (Naturi Naughton), takes notice and tries to get answers as her concerns are dismissed. “Determined to find Shannon, Ellen inadvertently uncovers a trafficking ring targeting students in need,” the official synopsis reads. “With time running out, Ellen must fight tirelessly to gain the support she needs to rescue Shannon and bring down the trafficking ring.”
Beauvais tells theGrio exclusively in a recent interview that she hopes the film, which is the second movie in her “Black Girl Missing” film series, will spark change within the judicial system and mainstream media.
“When Black and brown girls go missing, we [need to] do something about it,” she says. “We hold the police accountable; we hold the media accountable. That’s the basis for these movies is really to help our community. The disparity is so huge when a Black and brown person goes missing versus a blond and blue-eyed [person].”
“And I get it — even in this movie, one of the characters says ‘media is a business,’ right?” Beauvais adds. “So what do they want to do? They want to show the stories that are going to get people more interested. And unfortunately, that may not highlight us. So the importance of using my platform for these movies is everything to me.”
Beauvais says one of the most important aspects of “Abducted” is that it takes place on a college campus, where students are often away from home for the first time and vulnerable to traffickers and unsavory characters, much like Shannon is in the film.
“We thought the HBCU campus and the vibe of it would lend itself as part of a character in the movie,” Beauvais explains. “Now obviously, we’re not saying all HBCUs don’t care about [their students]. That’s not the story — I don’t even want to put that out there. It was really because we wanted to highlight the college experience and the trappings that can happen. It’s a cautionary tale to, again, protect us.”
Beauvais adds that the movie shows “how easy it is to be influenced by someone who comes on campus, who may buy you something, or who looks a certain way or treats you a certain way.”
“Also the part of the story that’s important is when you’re on campus, still have a community — whether it’s a professor, students, a sorority or club,” Beauvais stresses. “Just have a system in place that in case something happens to you, someone will say, ‘Hey, how come we haven’t seen her?’”
As the mother of three sons, Beauvais says she often talks to her boys about the importance of being vigilant of your surroundings and being prepared when they go out into the world. Two of Beauvais’ sons, twins Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas Nilon, will be celebrating their 17th birthday this year.
“This is something that I will be dealing with soon,” Beauvais shares. “My boys are in 10th grade [and] about to go to college. I mean, we talk about all things in our household. But it’s something about when you’re in college, making friends, building a community there — because obviously, myself and their dad, we won’t be there. So it’s important for them to build a community to feel safe and talk to people and let people know where you’re going.”
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Beauvais adds that although her “Black Girl Missing” film series focuses on girls, “it’s a scary world out there” and all Black children should be vigilant. The actress will be watching “Abducted” with her sons as she is throwing a watch party to recognize the film’s premiere on Saturday.
“I will have a viewing party at my house as I did for ‘Black Girl Missing,’” Beauvais reveals. “I have parents there as well so that we can talk to our kids. The conversation will continue.”
“Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie” premiered on Lifetime on July 20, and is now streaming.
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