This week has a whopping seven new releases plus two older films that have been restored and resurrected to newfound life. Along with those films I’m also recommending an experimental Palestinian video short, a new Criterion release, and the great Susan Seidelman’s forthcoming memoir.
A pivotal DM from
led to a new life for filmmaker Bridgett M. Davis’ ultra-low budget indie film Naked Acts. Filmed in the early 90s and released just in NYC in 1996 the film all but vanished afterwards. Cut to 2022, when Cade discovered the film at the Black Film Center & Archive at Indiana University, sent that fateful DM to Davis, and worked with the folks at Milestone Films and Kino Lorber to get the film back in front of audiences. For my column this month I spoke to Davis about the film’s journey over the last three decades and the emotional work she put into making it in the first place. This is a stellar film from a filmmaker with a sharp vision for the kind of art she wants to put into this world. I also want to share this great piece from Richard Brody at The New Yorker who writes, “Davis’s film, made at a time when there were few Black women filmmakers, exalts the hard-won breakthrough of self-depiction, of controlling the means of production; it opens pathways to a future cinema more radical than itself.” You can find the film’s release schedule here. If you are in New York City, Davis will be doing Q&As at BAM in Brooklyn (including in conversation with Maya S. Cade tonight!)Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
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