For filmmaker Sara-Claudia Ligondé, simply existing can often feel "like a weight."

"When I go to the spa, or even just grabbing a coffee, or free yoga, those things can turn into sources of oppression," Ligondé said.

Self-care and the assumption that every black woman has to be a strong black woman are main themes in Ligondé's documentary film, Rest is a Right.

She's one of five young filmmakers from Montreal who will screen their short film on Wednesday in a project called Being Black in Canada.

It's part of the Montreal International Black Film Festival.

The five Montrealers are part of a larger project spearheaded by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, which gave 15 emerging filmmakers in Montreal, Halifax and Toronto a bursary to create a documentary each with guidance from professionals.

The filmmakers were to tackle the issue of social integration of people from black communities in Canada through their films, according to the festival's website.

Ligondé's film features community activist and poet Shanice Nicole, who addressed the challenges black women face in seeking self care.

The film shows Shanice relaxing, cooking and taking care of her hair while discussing how she feels about being a woman of colour today.

A still from Marina Mathieu's film, F. (Submitted by Marina Mathieu)

Ligondé says black people are too often seen as unidimensional.

"We don't exist in a vacuum. The [multifaceted nature] of our experiences makes it so that we're unique," Ligondé told CBC Montreal's All in a Weekend.

Featuring 15 films from 15 young, black Canadians, Being Black in Canada is a chance to hear some of those experiences.

'We don't listen enough'

Another participant in the event is Marina Mathieu, whose documentary "F" undertakes her family's history of health issues, including fibroids, abnormal growths on the uterus, and the taboo of discussing them.

Mathieu tells the story of her sister's ongoing battle with fibroids. Through the story, Mathieu also contemplates her own fate.

The Canadian Women's Health Network says 20 to 25 per cent of all women have fibroids. They are very common in women over 30, but black women are three times more likely than other women to suffer from them.

"This talks a lot about the taboo that black women, and women of colour in general, have about their health — precisely about their sexual health," Mathieu said.

"Why are we not talking about it and why isn't there a remedy so that we don't have it?"

While bringing these issues to light through their films, Mathieu and Ligondé say there's more we must do as a society and as individuals.

"Listen. We don't listen enough," Mathieu said. "We talk a lot, we express ourselves a lot on issues regarding people of colour, but where are the places where we get to talk about our issues and our reality as human beings?"

The Being Black in Canada films screen Sept. 25 at Cinéma du Parc at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online or at the venue.