“The question of religion in black America is something filmmakers don't want to touch.” WantAmericaBlackFilmmakerBlack America Author:James McBride
“It's the same old story. Nothing in this world happens unless white folks says it happens. And therein lies the problem of being a professional black storyteller - writer, musician, filmmaker.” WorldStoriesProblemHappensLyingBlackWhiteThis WorldMusicianFolksFilmmakerStoryteller Author:James McBride
“As a Black woman filmmaker I feel that’s my job: visibility. And my preference within that job is Black subjectivity. Meaning I’m interested in the lives of Black folk as the subject. Not the predicate, not the tangent.[These stories] deserve to be told. Not as sociology, not as spectacle, not as a singular event that happens every so often, but regularly and purposefully as truth and as art on an ongoing basis, as do the stories of all the women you love.” FeelsArtStoriesHappensJobsBlackSubjectsEventsDeserveBasesFolksFilmmakerBlack WomenSociologyPreferenceOngoingSubjectivityVisibility Author:Ava DuVernay
“Time will tell ... whether folks want to point and stare at the black woman filmmaker who made a certain kind of film, and pat her on the back, or if they want to actually roll up the sleeves and do a little bit of work so that there can be more of me coming through.” IfsWantKindLittlesMadeFilmCertainBitsBlackLittle BitFolksStaringFilmmakerBlack WomenSleevesTime Will Tell Author:Ava DuVernay
“I would hate to say as a non-African-American person that it would be wrong for a black person to direct white people in a movie. Wouldn't that be awful of me to say that? The only sympathizing thing I might say for people that want to [grumble] is that a filmmaker should have an understanding for the place where the people you're portraying are coming from.” PeopleWantShouldPersonsMightWould BeHateUnderstandingBlackWhiteDirectShould HaveAwfulAfrican AmericanFilmmakerPortrayingBlack Person Author:Mick Jagger
“When my film went to the Venice Film Festival and won the best script writing, the jury [prize], it didn't go to my head. I know how many black filmmakers that I am operating with whose name will never be mentioned. But I'm part of them in that silent existence.” KnowsWritingFilmNamesBlackExistenceKnow HowSilentScriptsFilmmakerPrizeFestivalsJuryVeniceFilm Festivals Author:Haile Gerima
“I'm a film director. Gay is an adjective that I certainly am, but I don't know that it's my first one. I think if you're just a gay filmmaker, you get pigeonholed just like if you say I'm a black filmmaker, I'm a Spanish filmmaker, I'm a whatever.” IfsThinkingKnowsFirstsFilmBlackGayDirectorsFilmmakerAdjectivesFilm Directors Author:John Waters
“Spike Lee made such a difference in terms of black filmmakers, the subtleties - those authors, those writers who write from love, and those who write from that lofty position of superiority.I felt he took aspects of the black experience in America and held it up for us to see. He tried to put it in perspective. He did put it in perspective in his unique way.” WayWritingMadeAmericaFeltBlackTermDifferencesPositionPerspectiveUniqueAspectFilmmakerSuperiorityLoftySubtlety Author:Ruby Dee
“Some black filmmakers will say, "I don't want to be considered a black filmmaker, I'm a filmmaker." I don't think that. I'm a black woman filmmaker.” ThinkingWantBlackFilmmakerBlack Women Author:Ava DuVernay
“Being a black filmmaker, one of the things I wanted to do with the movie is make sure I told it from a different perspective. I wanted to take myself out of it as a black male. I wanted to look at this movie through the eyes of Tully, to understand what he was thinking, and feel what he was feeling as much as I could.” ThinkingFeelsLooksDifferentFeelingsEyeWantedBlackPerspectiveMalesFilmmakerThrough The EyesDifferent PerspectiveBlack Males Author:Deon Taylor