Michelle Parkerson Retrospective April 30-May 1

Join Leeway as we proudly co-present a series of retrospective screenings and a Master Class to celebrate former panelist and change partner Michelle Parkerson’s groundbreaking film work. Among the first African American women filmmakers to explore the intersections between race, gender, LGBT sexual identiy, and class, Michelle Parkerson’s impressive body of work contains portraits of some of the most extraordinary artists of the last half of the 20th century, including the jazz musician vocalist Betty Carter, the a cappella innovators Sweet Honey in the Rock, and the extraordinary poet/essayist Audre Lorde.

Presented by Scribe Video Center in partnership with International House Philadelphia, Third World Newsreel, Women Make Movies, BlackStar Film Festival, and the Department of Film & Media Arts at Temple University.

TUESDAY, APRIL 30 @ INTERNATIONAL HOUSE (3701 Chestnut Street)

5:00PM
A Litany For Survival: the Life and Work of Audre Lorde
by Ada Gay Griffin & Michelle Parkerson
USA, 1995, Color, 60 min
$10, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe members
An epic portrait of the eloquent, award-winning Black, lesbian, poet, mother, teacher, and activist, Audre Lorde, whose writing--spanning five decades--articulated some of the most important social and political visions of the century. From Lorde's childhood roots in NYC's Harlem to her battle with breast cancer, this moving film explores a life and a body of work that explored the connections between the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, and the struggle for lesbian and gay rights. At the heart of this documentary is Lorde's own challenge to "envision what has not been and work with every fiber of who we are to make the reality and pursuit of that vision irresistible."

6:00 PM
Artist Reception

7:00PM
Storme: The Lady of the Jewel Box
a film by Michelle Parkerson
USA, 1987, 21 min
$10, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe members
"It ain’t easy…being green” is the favorite expression of Storme DeLarverie, a woman whose life flouted prescriptions of gender and race. During the 1950s and 60s she toured the black theater circuit as a mistress of ceremonies and the sole male impersonator at the legendary Jewel Box Revue, America’s first integrated female impersonation show and forerunner of La Cage aux Folles. Through archival footage, Storme looks back on the grandeur of the Jewel Box Revue and its celebration of pure entertainment in the face of homophobia and segregation. Storme herself emerges as a remarkable woman, who came up during hard times but always “kept a touch of class.”

...But Then, She's Betty Carter
a film by Michelle Parkerson
USA, 1980, 53 min
This lively film is an unforgettable portrait of legendary jazz vocalist Betty Carter. Uncompromised by commercialism throughout her long career, she forged alternative criteria for success--including founding her own recording company and raising her two sons as a single parent. Parkerson's film captures Carter's musical genius, her paradoxical relationship with the public, and her fierce dedication to personal and artistic independence.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 @ SCRIBE VIDEO CENTER (4212 Chestnut Street, 3rd Floor)

5:30PM – 7:30PM
Master Class with Michelle Parkerson:
Creative Process and Coming Attractions
Filmmaker Michelle Parkerson examines milestones in her documentary career from concept to production. The impressive body of work created by Parkerson contains portraits of some of the most extraordinary artists of the last half of the 20th century including the jazz musician vocalist Betty Carter, the a capella innovators Sweet Honey and the Rock, and the extraordinary poet/essayist Audre Lorde. Parkerson is among the first African American women filmmakers to explore the intersections between race, gender, LGBT sexual identity, and class in her film work. Parkerson's Master Class will contrast non-fiction strategies with her current endeavors as a screenwriter, using fictional narratives to explore the less celebrated histories of African American women, as well as speculative fictions to create visions for the future. FEE: $25, $15 for Scribe members

8:00PM
Odds and Ends
by Michelle Parkerson
USA, 1993, 28 min
$10, $8 students/seniors, $5 Scribe members
In the year 2096, Black women warriors wage a vigilante battle against racial and gender annihilation. In this devastated universe, a fable unravels between interplanetary front lines. Lieutenant Loz Wayard, a courageous young amazon, learns the price of passion when her beloved Sephra takes on the ultimate sacrifice for the struggle.

Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in The Rock
Produced by Michelle Parkerson
Directed by Joseph Camp
USA, 1983, 58 min
This vibrant and engaging video profiles the a capella activist group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Singing to end the oppression of Black people world wide, Sweet Honey embraces musical styles from spirituals and blues to calypso, and concerns ranging from feminism to ecology, peace, and justice. This dynamic video features individual portraits; powerful concert footage; and commentary by Angela Davis, Alice Walker, and Holly Near.

About Michelle Parkerson
Filmmaker, writer, university professor and performance artist, Michelle Parkerson has been described by other independent filmmakers and scholars as a “trailblazer” and a “visionary risk-taker”. Her first long-form documentary …But Then She’s Betty Carter (1980), is a remarkable portrait of the fiercely independent jazz legend who founded her own recording company. Parkerson’s subsequent documentaries are all unforgettable portraits of extraordinary African American women whose life and work illuminate the relationship between race, gender, sexuality, and class in the U.S. She produced the Joseph Camp-directed Gotta Make That Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock (1983), about a women's a cappella ensemble that blends diverse African American musical traditions with a commitment to community activism. Pakerson’s short documentary Storme: The Lady of the Jewel Box (1987) catches up with Storme DeLarverie as she looks back on her time touring, during the 1950s and 60s, as a mistress of ceremonies and sole male impersonator of America’s first integrated female impersonation show. In 1993, Parkerson released Odds and Ends, a Sci-Fi short about black women warriors fighting an intergalactic war against racial and gender annihilation. Parkerson co-directed, with Ada Gay Griffin, the award-winning documentary A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde (1995), about the acclaimed Black lesbian poet, teacher, and activist whose writings articulated some of the most important social and political visions of the century.

Parkerson’s films and videos have been broadcast on PBS, BET, and The Learning Channel and her work has been screened at numerous international festivals including The Sundance Film Festival and the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. She was awarded the Prix du Public at the Festival International de Creteil Films de Femmes and the Audience and Best Biography Awards at the San Francisco Film Festival. Parkerson has served on the faculties of Northwestern University, Howard University, the University of Delaware, and Temple University’s Department of Film and Media Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has lectured nationally on film and cultural activism and heads the Washington, DC-based production company, Eye of the Storm Productions. Michelle Parkerson is currently in development on a docudrama entitled Sis Anna about African American educator, visionary, and early feminist scholar, Anna Julia Cooper.

Producers' Forums are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.