Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-Hop Culture is a riveting documentary that examines representations of gender roles in hip-hop and rap music through the lens of filmmaker Byron Hurt, a former college quarterback turned activist. Conceived as a “loving critique” from a self-proclaimed “hip-hop head,” Hurt tackles issues of masculinity, sexism, violence and homophobia in today’s hip-hop culture.

About Soul Food Junkies
Food traditions are hard to change, especially when they’re passed on from generation to generation. In this PBS documentary,award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt shares his journey to learn more about the African American cuisine known as soul food. Baffled by his dad’s reluctance to change his traditional soul food diet in the face of a health crisis,Hurt sets out to learn more about this rich culinary tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity.He discovers that the love affair that his dad and his community have with soul food is deep-rooted,complex, and in some tragic cases,deadly. Through candid interviews with soul food cooks,historians,and scholars,as well as doctors, family members,and everyday people,Soul Food Junkies blends history,humor, and heartwarming stories to place this culinary tradition under the microscope. Both the consequences and the benefits of soul food are carefully addressed.So too is the issue of low access to quality food in black communities,which makes it difficult for some black people to eat healthy. In the end,Hurt determines whether or not black people are addicted to this food tradition that has its origins in West Africa and the black south, yet is loved all over the world.

About Barack & Curtis
A short documentary film examining the contrasting styles of manhood exhibited by then Presidential candidate Barack Obama and rapper/mogul Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent.

About I Am A Man: Black Masculinity in America
Award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt explores what it means to be a black man in America. Traveling to more than 15 cities and towns across the country, Hurt gathers reflections on black masculinity from men and women of a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and a host of leading scholars and cultural critics. What results is an engaging and honest dialogue about race, gender, and identity in America. Features bell hooks, Michael Eric Dyson, John Henrick Clarke, Kevin Powell, Andrew Young, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, MC Hammer, Jackson Katz, and many others.

About If Five-O Shoots
In April 2008, I watched CNN as three detectives, Michael Oliver, Gescard F. Isnora, and Michael J. Padino, were found not guilty of all charges in the 2006 murder of 23 year-old Sean Bell. The three off-duty officers fired a combined 50 shots at Bell, who was unarmed, outside of a club in Jamaica, Queens just hours before Bell’s wedding. I was so profoundly moved by the jury’s decision, that I decided to attend a rally in Queens, NY to show my support for Bell and his family. I brought my video camera with me, and recorded the protest. Later, I went home and wrote the narration for If Five-0 Shoots. I sent my footage and narration to editor, Nonso Christian Ugbode, who edited the compelling visual images, and my words together, to make this heartfelt 5-minute piece.

About Hazing: How Badly Do You Want In
In Development: Hazing: How Badly Do You Want In will be a 60-minute documentary film that will explore why the controversial practice of hazing continues to be widely seen as a meaningful and legitimate rite of passage, despite mounting lawsuits, fraternity/sorority chapter suspensions, increased media coverage, serious injuries, arrests, and tragic deaths.