While the Academy Awards 2023 are right around the corner with cinematics happyily arguing about who should win, one former nominee is more busy with providing a more diverse landscape in filmmaking: Curtains up for Queen Latifah and the Queen Collective, a programm that opens the door for black female filmmakers to tell unique black stories:
The documentary “Team Dream” by Luchina Fisher, for instance, follows two 82 and 76 year old swimmers who train for the National Senior Games, where they will be likely the only black women competing in their age group’s swim event. And “In Her Element” by Idil Ibrahim documents the career of an upcoming black and queer rapper in Nashville, Tennessee, who breaks boundaries in the epicenter of country music:
Those are just two examples of how the Queen Collective, already in its fourth year, presents viewers with black female stories far away from Hollywood’s often-times stereotypical representations of Blackness. Both, along with three other documentaries and one film, will be released throughout the year.
Until then, you can watch earlier Queen Collective works like “Gloves Off” by Ugonna Okpalaoka, which shows a young black police officer forging new ways to serve her community by day, and making a name for herself in the boxing ring by night – two worlds where she’s often told she doesn’t belong.
