#Zeinabu Irene Davis

[roseillith]

CROCODILLE CONSPIRACY (1986) dir. ZEINABU IRENE DAVIS

[oldfilmsflicker]

For this month's Female Filmmakers in Focus column at RogerEbert.com I spoke to Cauleen Smith about the making of her 1998 film DRYLONGSO (recently restored by @janusfilms​), the way the craft of Black women directors goes ignored, and more. 

Cauleen talks about how her filmmaking craft, along with other Black women directors working in independent film in the 90s like Ayoka Chenzira, Zeinabu irene Davis, and Lesley Harris was often ignored, and how it's still happening today.

[READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE]

[directedbywomen]

Celebrating Zeinabu irene Davis!

"A veteran of independent film and video, Davis has produced numerous award winning works. Her vision is passionately focused on the depiction of African American women - their hopes, dreams, past and future. Her interests include altering and diversifying the terrain of mass media, film history, world cinema and folklore."

Visit her UCSD profile.

Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from UCLA (2015)

"The film is a true inspiration to any artist of color that wants to create anything of substance. Following the story of this program and seeing the footage of them creating and working in way that is intended to educate the community on prominent issues is an experience that can spark the dimmest revolutionary flame ablaze." Read more in The Source review.

Compensation (1999)

'“Compensation” is one of the greatest American independent films ever made...'

Read more in Richard Brody's What to Stream, Urgently: “Compensation,” a Modern Classic Rescued in The New Yorker.

A Powerful Thang (1991)

"Ingeniously pits desire for sexual intimacy against the need for love. A catalyst for in-depth discussions of intimate relationships. Dynamic and entertaining!" — Gloria Gibson-Hudson Black Film Center Archive, Indiana University

Listen to Art + Practice (A+P)'s IN CONVERSATION: ZEINABU IRENE DAVIS AND BARBARA MCCULLOUGH WITH DESHA DAUCHAN (2019)

Find out more about Davis's work in the UCLA Library Film & Television Archive.

Try to watch ALL her work... more than once!

[pacingmusings]

Seen in 2022:

Cycles (Zeinabu Irene Davis), 1989

[parure-d-insomnie]

''Compensation'' (1999)____________ Zeinabu Irene Davis.

compensation, zeinabu irene davis

[youngestdaughtersyndrome]

3? i need movie recs anyway :•)

3.) 3 films you could watch for the rest of your life and not get bored of?

First and foremost i have to say les yeux sans visage (1960) dir. georges franju. Not everyones cup of tea because it is very much a french new wave horror film and apparently some people arent into that but if u ask me what my favorite movie is im going to say les yeux unless i think youre a normie at which point i would say little miss sunshine (2006) which is also an awesome one. Very interesting thematic exploration of (not to sound like im beating a dead horse here) autonomy and subjugation, a possible feminist interpretation, and an ending that takes your mind with it. I also am like contractually obligated to say sucker-punch (2011) dir. zach snyder and head (1968) dir. bob rafelson (i am counting that as one movie) because ive watched each of them about 20 times this year alone. Again not everyones cup of tea and yeah sucker-punch was literally on every single worst films of 2011 list but if you get it you get it and thats all i can say about that. And finally compensation (1999) dir. zeinabu irene davis..... possibly the best independent independent film ever so incredible and understated both visually and story-wise also really love its sound design. Im very much due for a rewatch !!!

[albertserra]

Compensation (1999) dir. Zeinabu irene Davis

[deadassdiaspore]

Compensation (1999)

[cookie-face77]

Cycles by Zeinabu Irene Davis

[myblackgirlmagicsyllabus]

A POWERFUL THANG

(Dir. Zeinabu irene Davis, 1991)

This innovative drama, set in Ohio, traces an African American couple's search for intimacy and friendship. The spirited, African-identified Yasmine Allen is a writer and single mother who has been dating saxophone teacher Craig Watkins for a month. Wishing to end her self-imposed celibacy following her son's birth, Yasmine has reached a turning point in the relationship-but Craig, the Big Lug, wants to take it slow. Sage advice from friends and family members remind them, "sex is a powerful thang." Like her highly acclaimed CYCLES, Davis's film incorporates animation as well as Afro-Haitian dance in a rich exploration of the lives of African Americans.

Taken from https://www.wmm.com/catalog/film/a-powerful-thang/

https://filmquarterly.org/2020/12/22/liberation-love-and-time-travel/

[tribeca]

Every day of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, we will be highlighting over 50 superb films by black women directors from different countries, eras, and industries. This is a new collection of essential screen achievements by noted masters, exciting newcomers, and underappreciated talents. Here are the first 10 selections:

Alma’s Rainbow (Ayoka Chenzira, 1994): A fractious matriarchy of fiercely independent Brooklynites — including a buttoned-up beautician, her bohemian sister, and her starry-eyed daughter — takes precedence in this comedy where each interaction crackles and every character shines.

Belle (Amma Asante, 2013): Asante sheds light on a peculiar historical case, puncturing the British aristocracy’s cold and sumptuous veneer with the hard-edged nuances of racial and gender inequity. As the heroine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw illumines a defiant spirit with prismatic purity.

Beyond the Lights (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2014): A deeply-felt, perfectly-acted romantic and maternal melodrama that restores the genre to its rightful place in American film. Here, love is a meeting of two world-weary souls and a path to discerning — and defending — one’s worth.

Chisholm ‘72: Unbought & Unbossed (Shola Lynch, 2004): With a wealth of archival footage and clearsighted interviews, Lynch draws back the curtain on our electoral system and pays effervescent tribute to Shirley Chisholm, who dreamt the impossible dream and dared to make it real.

Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort South Carolina, May 1940 (Zora Neale Hurston, 1940): Count ethnographic filmmaker among the many careers Hurston held during her groundbreaking life. Here, she films Gullah worshipers and sermonizers with a style both engaged and engaging, ensuring that time will not erase them.

The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy (Kathleen Collins, 1980): Before Losing Ground, Collins set her sights on this tale of three Nuyorican orphans whose path crosses with a dying widow’s. A magical and mysterious film that touches gently, like the breeze brushing the tops of trees.

Cycles (Zeinabu irene Davis, 1989): Davis mixes media, draws on Yoruba traditions, and blurs the real and the imagined in this triumph of ecstatic experimentation, centered around a woman who rigorously purifies her home and body in the hopes of bringing about her overdue period.

Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1991): A lost world unearthed, its faces and places made present in a film so full of wisdom, splendor, and feeling that it eradicates the flatness of the screen. Dash created a landmark but also a sublime dream of what cinema can and should be.

Down in the Delta (Maya Angelou, 1998): Alfre Woodard is funny, flinty, and full-hearted as a single mom and struggling addict starting anew with estranged Mississippi kin. In Angelou’s only film, life is a forward march and family a time-honored bond both fragile and fortifying.

A Dream is What You Wake Up From (Carolyn Y. Johnson, 1978): Even as this incisive docudrama confounds the border between reality and fiction, its ideas about gender imbalance and the societal prejudice that locks black families outside of the American dream remain crystal-clear.

Written by Matthew Eng

[roseillith]

COMPENSATION (1999) dir. ZEINABU IRENE DAVIS

[oldfilmsflicker]

Compensation, 1999 (dir. Zeinabu irene Davis)

[undrthght]

Zeinabu Irene Davis - “A powerful Thang” (1991)

I came across this film while browsing through what is leaving Criterion Channel at the end of the month. I’m glad to have watched it and had not heard of Davis before. The acting is sometimes stiff and the script felt a bit rough around the edges, but thanks to the lead actress, Asma Feyijinmi, the film remains charismatic with a vibrancy and vitality pulsing through its exploration of sex, intimacy, race, gender, and culture. I love the story Davis is telling here, and I love learning of the creative stories black filmmakers put out before the neoliberal machine began overdetermining black films as best served didactically and centered on “representation”.

I will definitely check out Davis’ short films before they leave Criterion, too.

[pacingmusings]

Seen in 2022:

Crocodile Conspiracy (Zeinabu Irene Davis), 1986

[missmagoo]

compensation, zeinabu irene davis