Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
1. Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou made her directorial debut with “Down In The Delta,” starring Alfre Woodard, Wesley Snipes (here together at the ’98 premiere) and Loretta Devine. In 1972, Angelou became the first Black woman to sell a movie script, “Georgia, Georgia” — directed by Swedish filmmaker Stig Björkman. Her second film script was 1982’s “Sister, Sister.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
2. Kasi Lemmons
In 1997, Lemmons released “Eve’s Bayou” about a wealthy Louisiana family, through the eyes of its Eve, played by a Jurnee Smollett. It was a critics’ favorite and Lemmons’ most lauded work as a filmmaker. Some of her other directorial credits include the acclaimed “Talk To Me,” and “The Caveman’s Valentine” and “Black Nativity.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
3. Dee Rees
“Pariah”, the 2011 Sundance winner for Cinematography, was Rees’ first film. It was an autobiographical take on a young, African-American lesbian who comes to terms with her orientation, but also experiences being disowned by her mother because of it. Prior to, Rees was a graduate student of NYU film school, and was mentored by Spike Lee. Lee hired her as the script supervisor intern for his 2006 film “Inside Man.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
4. “Pariah”
Watch the trailer here, featuring its lead actress Adepero Oduye.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
5. Julie Dash
Treated as the doyenne of Black female filmmakers, Dash’s 1991 debut “Daughters of the Dust” was praised for his history-laced storyline, gaining wide distribution. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and preserved in the National Film Registry, the Queens-born, of Gullah descent talent mainly stayed with indies until 2002’s “The Rosa Parks Story.” She also directed “Love Song” starring Monica in 2000.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
6. Victoria Mahoney
Mahoney was an aspiring director whose dream came true through her feature debut (that she also also wrote) “Yelling to the Sky.” The impressive film starred Zoe Kravitz as its lead and a cast that included Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe and The Roots’ Blackthought. The film was nominated for the Berlin International Film Festival’s top Golden Bear.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
7. Sanaa Hamri
Hamri’s entertainment career began in music videos, her first being (no big deal) Mariah Carey’s “Thank God I Found You.” Her directorial debut was the interracial romantic comedy “Something New” with Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker. Hamri’s credits include Nicki Minaj’s videos for “Super Bass” and “Fly” and films “The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants 2” and “Just Wright.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
8. Euzhan Palcy
Hailing from Martinique, France, this Louis Lumière College grad is a force! She’s the first Black recipient of the Cesar Award, has earned a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was the first Black woman to have her film backed by a major studio, which was 1989’s “A Dry White Season” for MGM. That movie also marked her as the only woman to direct the iconic Marlon Brando. She also directed the TV biopic on “Ruby Bridges.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
9. Darnell Martin
This Bronx-native’s, and graduate of Sarah Lawrence and NYU, first film was the 1992 short “Suspect” which lead to her full-length (underrated) comedy “I Like It Like That” in 1994. She’s also directed Halle Berry in the adaptation of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and Beyonce in “Cadillac Records,” giving us Queen Bey’s best acting role yet as the late great Etta James.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
10. Ava DuVernay
The woman who inspired this list, Duvernay’s sophomore film “Middle of Nowhere” wowed critics. She become the first Black woman to win the Sundance Directing Award for U.S. Dramatic Film in 2012, as the Californian and UCLA grad has worn many hats including working in broadcast journalism and publicity. Her directing credits includes a Prada short film and an episode of “Scandal.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
11. “Beyond the Lights”
Watch Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker in a clip here!
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
12. Tanya Hamilton
Hamilton is a Jamaican born talent that came to America at 8 years old with her mom. A Columbia University alumni, her first film was 1997’s “The Killers.” In 2010, she directed “Night Catches Us,” a biopic of Philadelphia’s Black Panthers starring Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington. It earned her many nominations from Sundance, Black Reel, Independent Spirit, and won an Athena Film Festival honor.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
13. Tina Mabry
Mabry’s autobiographical “Mississippi Damned” is a tough film on family secrets and denial, but the acting was fantastic and her direction brilliant. In 2009, the UCLA grad received accolades from tons of festivals including Chicago International, American Black Film, New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film, Atlanta and Black Reel. The film also featured a young Tessa Thompson.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
14. “Mississippi Damned”
Watch a scene here!
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
15. Cheryl Dunye
Dunye’s most notable work is 1996’s full-length indie “The Watermelon Woman.” Like the Black lesbian take on Kevin Smith’s “Clerks,” Dunye played the lead character who works in a video store and is obsessed with making a biopic about an obscure black actress. She also has an interracial romance with a former White female customer. The Liberian born, Temple and Rutgers grad last project was 2014’s “Black Is Blue.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
16. “The Watermelon Woman”
Watch a funny scene from the flick here!
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
17. Nzingha Stewart
Stewart has always been one to watch, as she’s directed over 100 music videos for some big names in neo-soul and hip-hop, including Common, Jadakiss, Joss Stone, and Bilal. This January, she wrote and directed the Lifetime TV movie “With This Ring” starring Regina King, Jill Scott, and Eve. The NYU Philosophy grad also executive produced Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” movie.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
18. Yvonne Welbon
This Chicagoan filmmaker has based most of her most praised projects on racism and homosexuality, as Welbon is an outspoken member of the LGBT community. Her first film 1991’s “Monique” tackled her own experiences with prejudice and won Best Documentary at the Festival of Illinois Film and Video Artists. Other notable works are “Sisters In The Life” and “Missing Relations.”
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
19. Kimberly Towns
Towns’ college thesis project “Zero” was nominated for HBO’s Short Film Competition and selected for the American Black Film Festival. A graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, the new filmmaker is on a roll, as last year, she directed the short film “Hands To The Sky”, that featured an autistic protagonist.
Lights, Cameras, Action: 19 Talented Black Female Directors You Need To Know was originally published on hellobeautiful.com