Black Debutantes
Rógan Graham curates this collection of early works by Black women directors.
This collection celebrates the Black Women and femme filmmakers past and present whose remarkable work and reverberating impact is oftentimes underseen and under discussed.Several of the featured filmmakers, such as Ayoka Chenzira and Bridgett M. Davis, have only made one traditional feature throughout their careers, but their powerful voices and unique perspectives nevertheless remain as fresh and relevant as ever. Recurring themes of love, motherhood, ancestral trauma, the relationship to one’s body, racial violence and filmmaking itself, all emerge from these remarkable early films in a range of genres, from coming-of-age comedies to dystopian epics and contemporary independents.- Rógan Graham, curator