EGOT WINNER (EMMY, GRAMMY, OSCAR, TONY) VIOLA DAVIS WAS THE NARRATOR FOR “THE EBONY CANAL,” DIRECTED BY PITTSBURGH’S OWN EMMAI ALAQUIVA, RIGHT.
The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that “The Ebony Canal,” a documentary shedding light on Black infant health, has earned three “Webby” awards in advance of the 29th Annual Webby Awards. The Webby Awards, often referred to as the “Oscars of the Internet,” will be held on May 12, 2025, at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St., in New York City.
Directed by Pittsburgh’s own Emmy Award-winner Emmai Alaquiva, “The Ebony Canal” followed the birthing experiences of four women; Mariah Peoples, Larissa Lane, Alana Yzola Dally and Rachel Strader. “The Ebony Canal” won Webby Awards for “Video & Film: Independent Short Film,” “People’s Voice: Video & Film categories for Independent Short Film,” and “People’s Voice: Documentary: Shortform.”
In a press release announcing the Webby Award winners, “The Ebony Canal” previously had screenings at the Sundance Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, and Johannesburg (South Africa) Film Festival.
“The film continues to elevate the voices of Black and brown infants, and Black families and holds a call to action for awareness, advocacy, and transformation with the support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, first steps & beyond and more,” the April 27 release read.
The film was narrated by Viola Davis, who has achieved the “EGOT” —winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.
In the U.S., more than twice as many Black babies die before their first birthday than White babies. That statistic holds true in Pennsylvania, where the infant mortality for Black babies in 2020 was 10.9 per 1,000 live births. If you thought the 10.9 rate was bad, the rate was even higher in 2010, when the rate was 14.4.
Alaquiva told the Courier in a 2024 interview that the documentary came to be in 2022, when the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and the Richard King Mellon Foundation wanted to spotlight Black and brown infant mortality and how it affects people directly and indirectly. And with Alaquiva’s mission as an artist to “crystallize the human spirit around cinematic and purposeful storytelling,” the four women shared all the ups and downs of their pregnancies, the births of their children, and then up until the first year after their children’s birth.
Winning a “Webby” is tough to do. Competition is fierce, as Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” won for “Music Video of the Year,” and Snoop Dogg won for “Entrepreneur of the Year.” Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett won for “Advocate of the Year,” and the Obama Foundation won for “Charitable Organization/Non-Profit of the Year.” The Webby Awards have categories like podcasts, video/film, websites/mobile sites, apps/software, and creators.
The “Webbys” began in 1996 and is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 3,000-plus-member judging body.
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