The Classic Black Cinema Series: The Watermelon Woman
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time for this Past Event
- Sunday, Jun 12, 2022 2pm - 5pm
Location
Details
About this event
The opening sequence of The Watermelon Woman shows Cheryl, a 25-year-old African-American lesbian, filming a heterosexual wedding. It's the perfect set-up for writer/director Cheryl Dunye's sweetly sardonic, pretension-busting look at an African-American lesbian filmmaker negotiating our complex world.
In this 1996 film, Cheryl works at a video rental store in Philadelphia. She is interested in films from the 1930s and 1940s that feature Black actresses, noting that the actresses in these roles are often not credited. After watching a film titled Plantation Memories in which a Black actress playing a mammy is credited only as "The Watermelon Woman," she decides to make a documentary in which she attempts to uncover the Watermelon Woman's identity.
About the Classic Black Cinema Series
Specifically designed as a vehicle to expose the community to the vast artistic value black film has had throughout the years, the goal of the film series is to appeal to as diverse a population as possible and further the appreciation of Black cinema.
Curator and host, Felix Curtis, came to Charlotte from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay area where he curated The San Francisco Black Film Festival and Black Filmworks, the annual film festival component of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, where he later served as Executive Director.
Please note that you can register at no charge, but will have to pay the price of admission to the Gantt (free for members).
