Cheryl Dunye's The Watermelon Woman
Yay! the film comm! I'll toss a rec in too. I saw this in December.
The Watermelon Woman is written and directed by Cheryl Dunye, who is African American, and also plays herself, or maybe it's herself earlier in her career because in the film she is still an aspiring filmmaker. She works at a video store and videotapes weddings on the weekends, while she tries to find the right subject for her first film.
She's especially interested in black actresses from the early days of cinema, who were limited to playing housekeepers and similar roles. She spots one woman appearing in several films by a white female director (at a time when women of any race didn't direct films) who is only ever identified in the credits as "the Watermelon Woman." Cheryl decides to make a film about her search for the WW's real identity.
Along the way the film touches on a lot of different things, both funny and serious, in Cheryl's life, among her friends, in what she learns about the "Watermelon Woman," who does get a name by the end.
The Watermelon Woman is written and directed by Cheryl Dunye, who is African American, and also plays herself, or maybe it's herself earlier in her career because in the film she is still an aspiring filmmaker. She works at a video store and videotapes weddings on the weekends, while she tries to find the right subject for her first film.
She's especially interested in black actresses from the early days of cinema, who were limited to playing housekeepers and similar roles. She spots one woman appearing in several films by a white female director (at a time when women of any race didn't direct films) who is only ever identified in the credits as "the Watermelon Woman." Cheryl decides to make a film about her search for the WW's real identity.
Along the way the film touches on a lot of different things, both funny and serious, in Cheryl's life, among her friends, in what she learns about the "Watermelon Woman," who does get a name by the end.