GENER AL INTEREST
Sisters in the Life
A History of Out African American Lesbian Media-Making y vonne welbon & ale x andr a juhasz
From experimental shorts and web series
Yvonne Welbon is the founder of
to Hollywood blockbusters and feminist
the Chicago-based nonprofit Sisters in Cinema. She is an independent film‑
porn, the work of African American les‑
SISTERS
maker whose films have screened on
bian filmmakers has made a powerful
PBS, Starz/Encore, TV-ONE, IFC, Bravo,
contribution to film history. But despite
the Sundance Channel, and in over one
its importance, this work has gone largely unacknowledged by cinema historians
hundred film festivals around the world. Photo by Mayya Kelova.
and cultural critics. Assembling a range
IN THE LI FE A HISTORY OF OUT AFRICAN AMERICAN LESBIAN MEDIA-MAKING
Alexandra Juhasz is Professor and
of interviews, essays, and conversations,
Chair of the Department of Film at Brooklyn College, City University of
Sisters in the Life tells a full story of
New York, the coeditor of A Companion
African American lesbian media-making
to Contemporary Documentary Film,
spanning three decades. In essays on
and a documentary filmmaker.
filmmakers including Angela Robinson, Yvonne Welbon & Alexandra Juhasz, editors
Tina Mabry, and Dee Rees, and on
Photo by Leon Mostovoy.
the making of Cheryl Dunye’s The
Watermelon Woman (1996), and in interviews with Coquie Hughes, Pamela Jennings, and others, the contributors center the voices of black lesbian media makers while underscoring their artistic influence and reach as well as the communities that support them. Sisters in the Life marks a crucial first step in narrating the history and importance of these compelling yet unsung artists. Contributors Jennifer DeVere Brody, Jennifer DeClue, Raúl Ferrera-Balanquet, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Thomas Allen Harris, Devorah Heitner, Pamela L. Jennings, Alexandra Juhasz, Kara Keeling, Candace Moore, Marlon Moore, Michelle Parkerson, Roya Rastegar, L. H. Stallings, Yvonne Welbon, Patricia White, Karin D. Wimbley A CAMERA OBSCURA BOOK
Series Announcement CAMERA OBSCURA EDITED BY THE CAMERA OBSCURA EDITORIAL COLLECTI V E The Camera Obscura book series publishes cuttingedge feminist theoretical work on media and culture, extending the scope of Camera Obscura: Feminism,
“An important, thoughtful, and infinitely readable collection. Yvonne Welbon, Alexandra
Culture, and Media Studies, the leading journal of
Juhasz, and the many writers and filmmakers in here have always—and continue—to
feminism and film since 1976. Encouraging research
break new ground.”— JACQUELINE WOODSON
on marginalized histories and perspectives, books
“Like a VIP invitation to the coolest party, Sisters in the Life provides access to long-off-
in the series theorize media texts and forms while
limits company in the trenches of cultural production and exhibition and reveals how
attending to the production and reception of cinema,
queer filmmakers of color came to prominence and how friendship networks nurtured
television, photography, and other media. Whether
creativity and access. Yvonne Welbon and Alexandra Juhasz are the perfect guides— for their expertise, knowledge of the archive, and first-hand involvement in the history. For anyone who still thinks that great films appear magically out of thin air, this truthtelling volume will be a revelation.”— B. RUBY RICH , University of California, Santa Cruz
examining television and race, national cinemas, feminist authorship, or documentary and experimental film, series authors use gender and sexuality as a vector of analysis that intersects with a range of theoretical frameworks and methodologies. See page 35 for another new Camera Obscura book
FILM/BL ACK LESBIAN STUDIES
March 304 pages, 54 illustrations paper, 978‑0‑8223‑7086‑4, $26.95tr/£21.99 cloth, 978‑0‑8223‑7071‑0, $99.95/£83.00 Available as an e‑book
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