Every day on Art&Seek, we’re talking to people who have tips for virtual art experiences.  Share yours with us on Facebook, Instagram or @artandseek on Twitter. Click above to hear Chyna Robinson, writer and director of “No Ordinary Love” share her tip with KERA’s Nilufer Arsala. 

Everybody loves a good love story, right? But what happens when the love story takes a dark turn?

That’s what the producers ask in their film “No Ordinary Love.”  The film has been hitting the festival circuit and has already received a number of awards and accolades from audiences.

The romantic thriller was written, filmed and produced all in Fort Worth.  Keen eyes will be quick to recognize familiar locations in Sundance Square and the Petroleum Club in downtown Fort Worth, the historic Shiloh Church on the Northside, and the UNT Medical Center in on the Westside. Well, maybe you’ll also see a glimpse of Frisco too.

There’s great chemistry among the cast. All of the actors, as well as most of the crew, are local.

“We have a lot of talent here in the area so it was just a matter of finding them and giving them something they want to do,” said TCU grad and the film’s writer and director, Chyna Robinson.

Robinson’s first film project was the 2017 short film “Greenwood: 13 Hours” that was based on the Black Wall Street riots in Tulsa in 1921. It was during the shooting of that film Robinson meet Tracy Rector, board member of SafeHaven, Tarrant County’s service provider for victims of domestic violence. Rector was a survivor of a 23-year marriage with domestic violence. It was Rector who reached out to Robinson to see if she would be interested in making a film to help bring awareness to intimate partner violence.

DeAna Davis and Lynn Andrews III in “No Ordinary Love.”

Instead of a documentary or straight-up drama, Robinson decided to write a romantic thriller, a movie that could entertain all audiences while still getting the message across.

“There’s romance and there’s laughter, and then there is this dark side where you’ll hold your breath or your heart will start to race…and you’ll hate the bad guys,” said Robinson.

Rector, who serves an executive producer for the film, said “Chyna’s script is authentic to the issue, true to the statistics, research and science that we know about intimate partner violence.”

The story is about two women who are married to two manipulative men.  One woman is married to a pastor who uses scripture to make her feel like she’s losing her mind. The other woman is married to a police officer who starts bringing the stress of his job home. When the women plot to get out of their relationships, their escapes do not go as planned.

“Relationships marred with intimate partner violence are complex. You’re in love and there’s laughter, and romance – then there’s the abuse. The abuser keeps promising things and the partner just wants the relationship to go back to the good part,” said Robinson.

“I really wanted to try to answer that question, ‘Why doesn’t she just leave?”

You’ll have the chance to see “No Ordinary Love” starting this week. It will screen as part of the American Black Film Festival, running August 21-30. The screening is free but registration is required.

Got a tip? Email Gila Espinoza at gespinoza@kera.org. You can follow her on Twitter @espinoza_kera.

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