This short doc inspiring young Black girls had 'overwhelming' response

In the spring of 2019, filmmaker Aïcha Diop spent an afternoon in Nancy Falaise's Montreal salon, filming as Nancy taught a group of young Black girls how to style and maintain their natural hair. The resulting CBC Short Docs documentary, Nancy's Workshop, became a hit, garnering over 2.3 million views on YouTube since its release in August 2019. 

Less than year later, Diop sat down with Falaise to talk to her about the response to the documentary, how things have changed for her in the last year, and what she plans to do next.

Aïcha Diop: I just realized this morning that it's been almost exactly a year since we filmed the workshop.

Nancy Falaise: So much has happened. 

N: No one would have believed that. 

A: It's wild. So what has happened in the year since we filmed the workshop? What's it been like to have this part of your story, online for people to watch? 

N: I knew that young girls could benefit from these workshops, but I didn't realize how much adults could, also. It's overwhelming, the beautiful, super positive messages I'm getting from grown women that say "Thank you for doing this, I wish I had someone like you when I was young" and "I was contemplating going back to natural but this documentary is just making it so that it's for sure"  you know what I mean? I feel like we influenced even the adults to be like "You know what? It's time to love my hair." 

A: I think for adults, too, it's become something you're so used to accepting as part of your reality. It's part of your routine to have your hair a certain way. But when you see these young girls having the same struggles that you had when you were that age. And you're like, "You know what? They can do it, I can do it." 

N: Exactly! And so many of these women recognize themselves in these young girls, they're like "This is exactly me at 11". It's like, it's not a movement, it's like a self…

A: Like awakening?

N: Exactly. It's a self-awakening. 

A: Have you been getting a lot of requests for other workshops? 

N: Oh my gosh, so much. So much. It's like, people want me. I went to a few schools, I went to a CEGEP. Before [COVID] I have a thing with a private school, they want me to come six times to their school to see as many girls as possible. 

A: Woah!

N: The people that teach hairdressing are really interested in having me coming to teach the teachers [how to style curly hair.]. It's like, [the documentary] said: "We're here! How come you don't know how to do curly hair?" There's a huge gap. Between people with straight hair, that can go get their hair done, just about anywhere. And with curly hair, there's not. There's a lot of work to be done. 

A: Yeah. It really needs to be something that is nurtured, not ignored.  

N: If you're going into your teen years and adult years feeling secure about your looks, it's just fantastic. As soon as the hormones start to rumble in your body, as soon as you start getting that little change from a little girl to a young teen, we are so judgmental of ourselves, and then on top of that you have hair that you can't manage. And you can't manage it because for too long, for too many generations, women with curly hair thought that they were only pretty if they had straight hair. We're not even taught how to take care of [our]curly hair. And it's not just the kids who are learning now, it's the mothers too. 

A: What do you see for the future of Nancy's workshops when all of this coronavirus stuff is over and we're able to kinda go back to gathering? What's your goal? What's the Nancy plan?

[W]hen you see these young girls having the same struggles that you had when you were that age. And you're like, "You know what? They can do it, I can do it.

N: Well my Nancy plan is to teach as much as I can, to as many people as I can. And not just Canada — worldwide. I definitely want to put my foot on the African continent, I've never been, and it's one of my dreams. 

A: That's my dream. We're going. 

N: I hope that we are able to go and uplift young girls all around the world. I would also like to teach, so that all hairdressers have a basic understanding, at least, of curly hair. Like it should be, if you go to hair school, you should learn about curly hair also. Because there's not just straight hair! And you know, it's like saying, "I could only do makeup on white skin." Why? You have to learn the techniques on darker skin also. So why should you only learn to cut straight hair?

A: Has there been anything that you've learned since the workshop? 

N: I also learned to have more patience with my clients that didn't have the knowledge to take care of their own natural hair. It just showed me how, for too long, women with curly hair had no clue what to do with their hair. So it's not just, I'm gonna do their hair one time and they're gonna just be perfect. Because it stems from 20, 30, 40 years that this has been in these women's heads that "If it's not straight, it ain't right" so it's like I have untangled not just their hair but what they've been taught about their hair, the way they feel about their hair. It takes patience and love, lots of love, and deep moisturizing! 

A: I think this time right now is teaching us a lot about ourselves and the world we live in. I think it's making us realize how much we value our human connections and how much we rely on each other to move forward. 

N: What the coronavirus has taught me also, is that we have a lot of liberty that we took for granted. You know, just being able to travel all around with a Canadian passport. I value my freedom of speech, I value my freedom of just existing and being able to go and come as I please, wherever— whether that be on a plane or on a bus or in a car or on a bike. I also appreciate my family. And also not to be so materialistic. Because all the materials we can buy and have right now, you know, it doesn't count for anything. 

It's like I have untangled not just their hair but what they've been taught about their hair, the way they feel about their hair. It takes patience and love, lots of love, and deep moisturizing!

A: Yeah. It's really put a lot of things into perspective about what we value and what's important to us.  I dunno, it makes me rethink everything.

N: Another thing that the documentary has done for me is — don't get me wrong— I love to do hair. And I'm not gonna stop doing hair, but I love teaching much more. I really do. And that's gonna be my shift now. I'm going to start teaching way more than I'm going to be behind the chair. I love to see people's reaction when they achieve a look that they're trying to do— whether it be on themselves or on somebody else. I feel like I'm good at it, the message just passes fluently, like it just flows. When I'm trying to explain it to people, they get it. And we laugh and have a good time. I feel like I don't just teach them about hair, I teach them about other little things through hair. 

A: You teach them about life. It's a gift you have. The way you can make people's feeling—

N: I think it's the way I give the message. 

A: Yeah but I think it's because you have a way of communicating the way people feel, and the way they see the world. I dunno you're very very good at talking to people and having them understand exactly what you mean and connecting with people. Like connecting with them emotionally about their feelings, and just like, I dunno, you have a real gift. I think you should be teaching, no doubt. 

A: that's amazing! Any other thoughts on the film or the response to the film that you'd like to share? 

N: I feel like the documentary made people feel really comfortable with me. I really feel it, even though we're strangers, probably never met each other, probably never will meet each other, but people talk to me like I'm their big sister or their best friend. Like the messages that I get, it's like they talk to me like they've known me forever. And I answer them in the same tone. And I feel like people love it. You know what I mean? It's nice to be able to talk to someone who you feel like, you could be them and they could be you. You know what I mean? I hope I never lose that. Because you know, iI hope that this gets to be something that gets very big k. Because I feel like I wanna reach out to as many young girls and women as possible. But I hope that I never lose that.