Black women directing Black women
Short list of films directed by Black women centered on a Black woman or women. I stayed with movies from the US.
- Julie Dash - Daughters of the Dust (actually her entire filmography)
- Kasi Lemmons - Eve’s Bayou
- Dee Rees - Pariah
- Ava DuVernay - I Will Follow, Middle of Nowhere
- Cheryl Dunye - Watermelon Woman, Stranger Inside
- Leslie Harris - Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.
- Gina Prince-Bythewood - Love & Basketball
- Victoria Mahoney - Yelling to the Sky
- Tina Mabry - Mississippi Damned
- Ayoka Chenzira - Alma’s Rainbow
- Bridgett M. Davis - Naked Acts
- Zeinabu irene Davis - Compensation
- Sanaa Hamri - Something New
- Joy Shannon - All That Jazzin’
- Cauleen Smith - Drylongso
- Alison Swan - Mixing Nia
Outside of Hollywood: Film and Filmmakers of Africa and the African Diaspora
I have so much to say about Hollywood’s lack of respect for Black people and culture but that is for another day. My main focus is to support filmmakers, writers, producers, and directors across the world who are pushing to portray us realistically and respectfully. I urge my followers to support directors with missions that go beyond capital gain.
Here are a few projects/films that I have been supporting actively and I urge you to do the same and add on to the list.
- Negro - A Docu-Series on About Latino Identity (filmmaker also has some wonderful tumblr pages, Empowered Afro-Latin@ and Diaspora Dash)
- Ebony Goddess - Queen of Ile Aiye
- Dark Girls
- Black and Sexy TV (including the Couple, the Number, etc)
- RoomieLoverFriends
- Awkward Black Girl
- I Will Follow
- Middle of Nowhere
- Sobukwe - A Great Soul
- Pumzi
- Africa First Short Film Project
- Viva Riva!
- We of the Saya/Nosotros los de la Saya
- What’s Up Africa
- My Africa Is
- Say Grace Before Drowning
- Better Mus’ Come
Though just a short list of projects that I can think of off the top of my head, there are so many people in film working to showcase the breadth and depth of Blackness.
The arts have been and will always be essential in fighting centuries of prejudice towards people of color. The arts has always come with a significant amount of agency in the fight against white supremacy, patriarchy, and all other forms of malice that hope to suppress the will and power of African and African descendant people. Through film, we are able to tell our own stories, revise history that has excluded the narratives of those of darker skin tones, and give voice to the experiences, cultures, and histories of our people.
I will make sure to push more and more information about cinema from Africa and the African Diaspora. Shadow and Act is a wonderful resource that provides information on up and coming films, television shows, documentaries, and all other forms of visual media made for and by Black people.
