Black Women Filmmakers and Media Makers

During our class discussion and in recollecting past independent films I have seen, I came across many black women filmmakers/producers whose works have storylines that come from have a different set of values and objectives that are set up under new frameworks. As auteurs, these women filmmakers take on issues of race, sexuality, gender identity, self-image, and violence against women from different angles which lead audiences into new modes of thinking and create new dialogues.  To address what Maggie Humm states in her "Author/Autor: Feminist Literary Theory and Feminist Film" piece, these filmmakers have used film to “reflect the way women [can] have power over their lives and particularly over their sexuality” (94).

Despite the fact that only 6% of filmmakers in Hollywood are women and only 4 women have ever been nominated for an Oscar in the best directorial category, it does not stop these women from continue to pursue their passions in filmmaking. In addition, they have not felt the need to win an Academy award, a SAG, Golden Globe, or any prominent award for their films to be validated as great or been written down in history as phenomenal. A few of these filmmakers, despite the mainstream and independent movie industry being a white-male dominated business and racist/sexist hurdles, have had longevity while up-and-coming and fresh faces continue to emerge. In addition, because the circles of black female filmmakers are so small in the business, it has further tightened and strengthen their relationships as a community and forged a sense of solidarity. (The Root article).

Instead of focusing on one filmmaker/screenwriter, I chose to highlight a few black women media/film makers, film festivals, and organizations to prove this and to dispel bell hooks’ argument that “there have not been sustained major visual leaps in the nature of black representation” (6). Some of these filmmakers started their movie-making careers through documentaries while others have created fictional/narrative films. Many of them have garner great critical acclaim, accolades, thus solidifying their careers as reputable. Without having to first go through the machine and/or have industry decision-makers distribute or green light their films, these women have taken on movie making outside the parameters of the industry and onto their own terms.

Veteran Filmmaker:

Aishah Shahidah Simmons (unfortunately not listed on Women Make Movies’ website)

http://notherapedocumentary.org/aishah-shahidah-simmons-bio

http://www.blackmanvision.com/black-film-culture/interview-with-no-director-aishah-shahidah-simmons-of-afrolez-productions/

http://afrolezproductions.com/

New Filmmakers:

Daphne Valerius, director of The Souls of Black Girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9B9S_9BK5g&feature=related

http://www.soulsofblackgirls.com/

Dee Rees, the director of Pariah

http://focusfeatures.com/pariah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNRdxsTmV1U

Tiona M., director of Black. Womyn: conversations with lesbians of African descent

http://blackwomynfilm.com/Home.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-nEMrl5ZMg

Festivals and Media Arts Organizations: Black Women Filmmakers

Reel Sisters of Diaspora Film Festival (Brooklyn, NY)

http://www.reelsisters.org/

ImageNation: Moikgantsi Kgama, Founder

http://www.imagenation.us/pages/HomePage.htm

http://www.imagenation.us/pages/7_links.htm

Haitian Films: by and about Women

http://www.lidous.net/2007/10/19/haitian-films/

http://www.tribecafilm.com/news-features/news/Whitney_Dow_When_the_Drum_is_Beating.html

The International Black Women’s Film Festival

http://www.ibwff.com/

Works Cited

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/auteur

http://www.theroot.com/views/black-women-and-hollywood-shuffle

Hooks, bell. “Introduction: Making Movie Magic”. Reel to Real: Race, sex, Class at the Movies. 

New york, NY: Routeledge. 1996. Print.

Humm, Maggie. "Chapter 4." Feminism and Film. Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 1997.

96. Print.