Sisters in Cinema: A new film by Yvonne Welbon
Local filmmaker, Yvonne Welbon, will have the Chicago premiere of her film SISTERS IN CINEMA this weekend as part of the Women in the
Director's Chair Film Festival. The film looks at the history of
African American women feature film directors.
SISTERS IN CINEMA is playing:
Friday, March 14, 2003 at 9pm
LaSalle Bank Theater, 4901 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago
Saturday, March 15, 2003 at 4pm
Charles A. Hayes Family Investment Center
4859 S Wabash street (Behind the High School)
Diva caught up with Yvonne and asked her about her new work....
 | | Filmmaker Yvonne Welbon |
Yvonne Welbon: Sisters in Cinema is a feature-length documentary that traces the careers
of inspiring African American women directors from the early part of the
20th century to today. As the first documentary of its kind, Sisters in
Cinema creates a strong visual history of the contributions of African
American women to the film industry.
Diva: How did the idea for Sisters in Cinema come together?
Yvonne Welbon: When I started film school in 1991 I only knew the name of one African
American woman director -- Julie Dash. I didn't know what she looked like.
I'd never seen any of her films and I had no idea why or how she became a
filmmaker. I learned that I was not alone. I heard that over and over again.
I didn't know there were any black women filmmakers. So, I set out to find
my sisters in cinema.
I began shooting SISTERS IN CINEMA in June of 1997 and completed the film in
February of 2003. (I directed and/or produced a number of other films in
that time period, and I even received my Ph.D.!)
Diva: Did this film change shape throughout the course of making it?
Yvonne Welbon:The film started off being a traditional talking heads documentary and
became a hybrid verite documentary as the viewer actually has the
opportunity to experience my search for my sisters in cinema. It's like a
black woman does Michael Moore.
I would say that my early archival research was surprising, because I
basically went back and retraced the steps of researchers who had gone
before me. And what I found was that nestled in the newspapers where there
were articles of black men's achievements in film were articles about what
black women were doing. But somehow, the researchers didn't see what the
women did as important? It is just surprising how undervalued women's work
is. And it is overwhelming how much work there is to be done to continue to
write all women into film history.
The film begins with a discussion of the Hollywood film industry as the
place where American "culture" is created and distributed throughout the
world. What we quickly learn is that although the film industry began in
1896, only a handful of films have been created within the system that were
directed by African American women. The documentary then focuses on the
historical development of the African American woman director from the early
part of the 20th century to now, primarily as independent filmmakers.
There is plenty of discussion about black women's attempts to make it within
the Hollywood industry and their perseverance. For instance we learn that
while Maya Angelou started out in the early 1970s it took her 25 years
before she finally garnered an opportunity to direct her first feature film.
Discussion about how, conversely, African American men have been embraced by
the studio system is also included.
Through my research, I was able to find documentaries and books on black
film history. Rarely did those texts include information about African
American women feature film directors. The books usually focused on black
women's participation in front of the camera, not behind the camera. As the
first documentary of it's kind, SISTERS IN CINEMA attempts to begin to write
African American women directors into American film history.
Diva: Let's talk about the situation of Black women directors. How much easier, if at all, have things gotten for a Black woman to direct a film? Once she directs that first film, how easy is it to make another film? For example, what happened to Julie Dash?
Yvonne Welbon: Well, the main thing is that if black women want to make movies they
basically have to figure out how to raise the money to do it themselves
without the power or finances of the studio system behind them.
Which basically means that they create work that rarely has an opportunity
to reach a wide audience, that they are without recognition and that they
have few opportunities with adequate funding to develop their craft.
The thing is that the situation with black women is basically the situation
for all women in the industry, regardless of race. Women are 51% of the
population but less than 7% of the directors and over half of film school
students. (Stats are on the DGA website.)
If you want to know what happened to Julie Dash after the success of her
groudbreaking feature film directorial debut, Daughters of the Dust, you'll
have to watch the documentary.
Diva: I know the film looks at the history of Black women directors. Who was
the first Black woman director, and what types of films did she make?
Yvonne Welbon: Early filmmakers featured in the film include, Tressie Souders who wrote and
directed A Woman's Error in 1922, Zora Neale Hurston the writer and
anthropologist who made ethnographic films and Eloyce Gist who directed
Verdict Not Guilty in the early 1930s. Tressie Souders is thought to be the
first African American woman feature film directed. As far as I know, the
film no longer exists and there is actually little information about what
the film is actually about, aside from it being a true portrait of the Negro
race.
Diva: Where can folks see this film, purchase this film, etc?
Yvonne Welbon: I will be attending the Cleveland International Film Festival, March 28 and
29, 2003 and the Boston International Women's Film festival, April 5, 2003.
Homevideos are for sale by calling 1-800-343-5540.
My main goal is for this film to be acquired by libraries and film schools
so that African American women directors can be taught as part of a general
film history curriculum and so that the general public can learn about a
neglected part of our film history.
I would also like the film to be broadcast nationally to reach a large
audience. The broadcast rights are still available.
Diva: What advice would you have (or does the film give) to any young, Black
women just starting out in a film career.
Yvonne Welbon: The film offers lessons on many levels. Viewers learn that there are many
different ways to become filmmakers. They learn that making a film is not an
easy task. They learn about different ways of fundraising. Basically, they
learn that there is not just one way to become a filmmaker. They learn
through the examples of the women in the film that it's important to hold on
to their dreams and to continue to strive to bring their stories to the
screen, even though it may take years or even decades to do so.
Diva: What are you working on right now?
Yvonne Welbon: I am developing Where Are We Now, a magazine-styled documentary series that
examines pivotal points in history that were spearheaded by black women and
that brought about social, political, cultural, economic and technological
changes in the world. Where Are We Now looks at black women's contribution
to contemporary history and how their inventions, innovations and ideologies
are currently being used throughout the world today.
I am also developing my first narrative feature film that is based on a true
story about a black lesbian catholic high school student that is set in
Chicago in 1972.
For more information: www.sistersincinema.com
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