Filmmaker Jeff Wray is preparing to bring his spiritual pieces documenting the black community to Lansing for the first time.
On Saturday, the Lansing-based filmmaker is bringing JazzyTam Films' latest work, "The Soul Searchers: Three Stories," to the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 W. Kalamazoo St. in Lansing.
"The Soul Searchers" includes three short relationship based films, "Get Thee Behind Me," "Two Pink Dots? You Positive?" and "Middle Skin," that Wray describes as "searches for answers to the central questions of love, joy and pain."
The style of each film offers a different experience, Wray said.
"The three films are pretty distinctive in their tone and style," Wray explained. "'Middle Skin' (specifically) is a wild one. The first part of the film is raw realism while the second part is more fantasy."
"Get Thee Behind Me" is described by Wray as a coming-of-age piece about a young man named Jeremiah, played by actor Arthur Williams, who falls in love with a woman for the first time while dealing with paranoia that the devil is pursuing him.
"The film is a coming-of-age story, where (Jeremiah) grows out of a childish fear and begins to come into his own," said Jasmine Hamilton-Wray, an MSU vocalist as well as Wray's daughter.
Hamilton-Wray, known on stage as singer Yellokake, also lends her talents to "Two Pink Dots? You Positive?" as a singing nurse in one of the scenes.
"'Two Dots?' is a surreal, stylized journey through Sarah, a young woman, and her pregnancy," Hamilton-Wray said. "Even though the movie is shot from her perspective, it goes beyond just narration."
In addition to the Lansing premiere of "The Soul Searchers," those in attendance will also be able to view "China," a 2003 film previously shown at the East Lansing Film Festival.
The film, which documents the journey of marriage between fictional couple Evelyn and Rudolph Jackson, was initially created for the Public Broadcasting Service and has been featured in the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival and Urbanworld Film Festival.
"The response to 'China' was interesting," Wray said. "People would say 'Don't take offense, but this doesn't look like a black film.'"
Wray stressed the importance of combating such notions with "The Soul Searchers."
"I find it important to present black characters and black life as human," Wray said. "Not so much good or bad, but human. That type of thinking is what influenced the films."
Wray, who's been a filmmaker for 15 years, plans on working on a film in Detroit next summer.
"The ultimate goal for me is to find balance for black film," Wray said. "(Movies like 'Soul Plane') are on one end of the spectrum while on the other side there aren't many films like 'The Soul Searchers.'"
Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8 for students with school IDs.