Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds @ de Young
Yoruba culture is often described as “a river that never rests”—a living tradition that continues to shape communities around the world. The documentary film, Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds, follows the journey of Black excellence across continents, tracing how Yoruba culture has influenced Afro-Brazilian history and the wider African diaspora.
Today, millions of people across the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and beyond carry these cultural lineages. As the diaspora continues to grow, so does the urgency to preserve and uplift African histories that risk being overshadowed or forgotten. In celebration of the arts of Africa at the de Young and our current exhibition, Nengi Omuku: The Gathering, this program is presented in collaboration with NEXUS Black Art Week.
NEXUS is a regional movement presenting more than 140 exhibitions, open studios, events, and immersive experiences that celebrate the power and vitality of Black art throughout the Bay Area.
Join us for a film screening and conversation between Natasha Becker, curator of African art, and Raynald Leconte, director of Amazing Grace, to honor heritage, creativity, and the communities keeping these stories alive.
This lecture will be recorded and available to watch on this web page after the event.
About the film
Yoruba culture is a “river that never rests.” The Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds (2026, 66 min) documentary chronicles the journey of Africa’s first Nobel laureate, and explores Yoruba culture and its global impact on Afro-Brazilian history and Afro-culture. Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds received the Programmers’ Award for Best Feature Documentary at the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) in Los Angeles, adding to an impressive international festival run that included the Marché du Film at Cannes, AFRICA USA International Film Festival, the Madrid Film Awards, Africa International Film Festival, Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo, and other leading international festivals.
About the speakers
Raynald Leconte is a film director and producer. Leconte currently resides in New York City and, through his UN background, has lived in Africa, Europe, and South America. He successfully launched three media start-ups: Krysp Imaging Solutions, where he propelled pop artist Peter Max into the digital age; Screeny Media; and Syndicated Radio Shows, where he produced “Live from San Francisco: It’s Barbara Rodgers.” Raynald’s first major film, In the Eye of the Spiral, narrated by Annie Lennox with music by Brian Eno, won BAFF “Best Documentary Feature” in 2014. His 2018 film, Real Maravilloso, engaged the world with Cuba’s “marvelous realism” literary movement, winning “Best Feature Documentary” at multiple film festivals.
Natasha Becker’s work redefines how African and African diaspora art is experienced in museums. Appointed in 2020 as the inaugural curator of African art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Becker has led a bold reimagining of the Museums’ African art galleries, launching a new program of contemporary and historical exhibitions that center artists as storytellers and agents of transformation. Becker’s exhibitions — such as Lhola Amira: Facing the Future (2022), Leilah Babirye: We Have a History (2024), and Nengi Omuku: The Gathering (2026) — foreground themes of healing, resilience, and belonging.