Dallas native to have debut film showcased at Sundance Film Festival

by Marilyn Clark of Dallas Weekly, Sylvia Desrochers of Dallas Weekly

Terence Nance's movie, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, will have five screenings in Park City.

Terence Nance

You’ve just arrived home after a bad day. You’re broke and lonely, even though you live in the biggest and busiest city in America. You do, however, have one cause for mild optimism: You seem to have captured the attention of an intriguing young lady. You’ve rushed home to clean your apartment before she comes over. In your haste, you see that you’ve missed a call. There’s a voice mail; she tells you that she won’t be seeing you tonight.

With arresting insight, vulnerability, and a delightful sense of humor, Terence Nance’s creative debut feature, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, documents the relationship between Terence and a lovely young woman (Namik Minter) as it teeters on the divide between platonic and romantic. Utilizing a tapestry of live action and various styles of animation, Terence explores the fantasies, emotions, and memories that race through his mind during a singular moment in time.

An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty will have its press screening at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Sunday, January 22, at the Holiday 4 Theater.

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty - Teaser trailer

Video from Vimeo user terencenance

Nance writes, directs, and stars in the film which also stars Minter and Chanelle Pearson. The film is produced by Nance, Andrew Corkin, and James Bartlett. Executive Producers are Media MVMT, Paul Bernon, and Jason Weissman. Co-executive producers are Jocelyn Cooper, Dream Hampton, Hank Willis Thomas, and Natasha Logan. Associate producers are Chanelle Pearson, Matthew Bray, and MoCADA. Shawn Peters and Matthew Bray are the cinematographers and Nance provides the original music.

Nance was born in the historic African American community of Thomas and Hall, raised in North Dallas and attended J.J. Pearce High School in Richardson ISD. As a member of St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church, he sang in the choir, danced, and participated in the African Rites of Passage Program for boys.

Nance has played music in Deep Ellum and performed in all of the Southern Dallas arts venues, including the South Dallas Cultural Center, African American Museum, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters, and at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in Boston and made his first film while studying at Cape Town University in South Africa. He also received his MFA from New York University.

Nance comes from a family of musicians and artists. According to his bio, he began writing and learning to play instruments at a young age by sitting in with his uncles during studio sessions, some of whom played with noted artists Lucky Peterson and James Ingram. He came to NYC as a visual arts student. Thinking about his overall body of work thus far, he writes, “The work that I have been doing for the last few years is at its base self portraiture about vulnerability, the fragility of perception, and self awareness. Using performances, song, environments, video, re-enactments of events, relationships, and dreams, I attempt to reconstruct my identity in moving images.”

Additional screenings for An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty will be January 21, 23, 24, and 28. The film is one of 21 black films showing at the festival.

A Dallas delegation of family and friends are traveling to Park City, Utah, for Nance’s screening of An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.