Several organizations say a speech by filmmaker Barry Avrich as he accepted a Canadian Screen Award for his documentary Oscar Peterson: Black + White devalued the importance of Black creators telling Black stories.

“This is a testament that there are so many Black stories in Canada that need to be told. It doesn’t matter who tells them; we just need to tell them,” said Avrich during his acceptance speech.

After a backlash by the The Black Screen Office, Reelworld Film Festival  and others, Avrich said he misspoke and that of course it matters who tells stories.