In Jessica Chaney’s I Am, five Black women directly address the audience to discuss their personal struggles with mental health—a therapist and a holistic life coach are both also on hand to help contextualize their stories, to demonstrate that no one need truly be alone in their personal journeys in anxiety, depression, and more. The film seeks to break down barriers in communication around how Black women specifically suffer these issues in this country. In collaboration with the 2022 Indie Memphis Film Festival, IDA presented a work-in-progress DocuClub screening of I Am.
African American Media
The intimacy and intricate care that BlackStar puts into the organization and accessibility of its annual film festival make it feel like a deeply considered project brought together by so many experienced and attentive organizers. The ability to facilitate joy and safety in a gathering can create exponential space for growth, a bending of space-time that gives folks true time to be free and travel across waves of distant visions. Amidst all the vibrancy and energy of the people of BlackStar, I tried to see as many films as possible and will mention here films that I saw for the first time with audiences. Like the talks, the focus of many of the films was survivorship—they asked how we propel ourselves through truth and ethical pursuit in an age of disintegration and global instability.
For so long, much about Russell Tyrone Jones, known to the world as Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Ason Unique by others, earned both public awe and
SECTION 1: Julian When I began the lengthy process of reporting and directing my feature documentary, The Holly (2022), there were plenty of
I had been given such a wide breadth of opinions, suggestions, thoughts on Sundance that it felt a bit like I walked into somebody else’s IG story
Celebrating Black History should not be limited to just one month! We must celebrate, honor, cherish, and uplift the voices and works of Black non-fiction makers, thinkers, scholars, and workers in our industry every day.
Seeking Mavis Beacon follows two fabulously charming e-girl detectives: director Jazmin Renée Jones and associate producer Olivia McKayla Ross, as
The pioneering American filmmaker William Greaves (1926–2014) produced, directed, shot, and edited more than 100 experimental, documentary, and social issue–based films. His four Emmy nominations cap a lifetime as a successful songwriter, dancer, and actor; he was a member of the Actors Studio and had featured roles in independent, Black-cast movies of the late 1940s.
Kokomo City opens with a bang. Liyah is lying on her bed, a giant stuffed teddy bear in the background, as she recounts a past meeting with a man
The films of New Orleans-based filmmaker Nailah Jefferson share similar grievances despite a variety of subject matter. Some of them try to remain in