This essay examines the New Negress Film Society, a collective of Black women and non-binary filmmakers who create community, spaces, and films that reimagine cultural productions that have traditionally exploited Black communities. Founded in 2013, the genesis and evolution of the New Negress Film Society reveals the individual, institutional, and industrial challenges that impact Black women’s filmmaking as well as the ways in which black feminist community engenders collectivizing. Samantha Sheppard considers broader traditions of formal and informal black feminist social movements and film collective practice while drawing attention to how New Negress Film Society operates deliberately on the margins and counter to industry-focused and mainstream routes for black cinema.
University of California Press