In her column “Her POV,” Blyss Cleveland reviews classic and contemporary films directed by women.

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.

There is much to be worried about with respect to representation in the film industry. Studios and streaming platforms have announced rollbacks of diversity initiatives. These announcements are a formality considering reports already show a decrease in the number of women and people of color behind and in front of the camera. 

Nevertheless, there is much to be excited about. In recent years, several newcomers have made their feature film debuts. Filmmaker Julie Dash and founder of the Black Film Archive, Maya Cade, have been instrumental in restoring and re-releasing independent films made by Black directors. Unsure of what to watch next? The following landmark films are now readily available to stream on Kanopy. If you watch them in the order they were released, you’ll see how stories centered around Black female interiority evolved at the end of the twentieth century. These movies cover difficult terrain such as the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, career goals and unfulfilling romantic relationship challenges and do so with much humor without sacrificing substance. 

“Losing Ground” (1982). Written and directed by Kathleen Collins.

“Losing Ground” was not granted a theatrical release until 2015, when Kathleen Collins’s daughter restored and remastered the film. It is a semi-autobiographical and innovative character study of a Black intellectual woman, Sara Rogers (Seret Scott), and her quest for fulfillment. Sara is a philosophy professor who receives much adulation from her students, but negotiates an unnamed lacuna in her marriage to Victor (Bill Gunn). Sara appears to have it all — a fact that her students highlight when they remark how lucky she is to have a husband, but professional success can obscure personal problems. 

Victor is a painter who becomes a self-proclaimed “genuine Black success” after a museum offers to buy one of his paintings for their permanent collection. He suggests they rent a vacation home in upstate New York to celebrate and to seek new inspiration for their respective projects. They end up in the kind of Sartre-esque “No Exit” situation that is presaged in her lecture. If people must endure each other in a room with no windows or mirrors and a locked door, are they in hell? It would seem so!

I have always thought that an academic’s bugbear is revealed by their research agenda. In line with this idea, Sara is researching ecstatic experiences. Sara and Victor appear mismatched, but there is something more complicated happening. The couple can only see parts of each other’s personality. The inability to recognize the whole person leaves them with a background of emotional needs that go unfulfilled until they each meet their respective muses. The use of clothing to reflect Sara’s mood is particularly evocative because the central conflict is her emotional turmoil. I have seen this film multiple times and find new clever and absurdist elements after each viewing. 

“Alma’s Rainbow” (1994). Written and directed by Ayoka Chenzira. 

There is a beautiful legacy behind Ayoka Chenzira’s first feature film, “Alma’s Rainbow.” Chenzira worked with Collins’ co-producer and cinematographer, Ronald K. Gray, and Dash gave the film its title. 

I love coming-of-age movies, and “Alma’s Rainbow” is a standout in the genre because all the protagonists have some growing up to do. Rainbow Gold (Victoria Gabrielle Platt) is the tomboy teenage daughter of Alma (Kim Weston-Moran), a cosmetologist who operates a beauty parlor out of their Brooklyn home. When Alma is not beautifying the neighborhood ladies, she is telling Rainbow to stay far away from boys — she has no interest in meeting her grandchildren while her daughter is still a girl. After a long absence due to being on tour, Alma’s sister Ruby (Mizan Kirby) whirls into town and disrupts the delicate dynamics of their home life. 

Rainbow has aspirations to become a dancer and is delighted to be taken under Ruby’s wing. Her mother and aunt are two models of womanhood but Rainbow’s youth blinds her from seeing there are many ways to show up in the world. It is especially ironic that Rainbow peppers her aunt with questions about whether the glamorous showgirl is her real mother, considering how much she takes after Alma. Mother and daughter manage to cast the same exact sideways glance at each other’s suitors. After Rainbow experiences a life-changing event, the neighborhood women pilgrimage to the Gold residence to dole out contradictory advice. Wisdom in one life stage may be self-sabotage in another, but this has to be experienced to be believed.

“Naked Acts” (1996). Written and directed by Bridgett M. Ford.

Bridgett M. Ford’s feature film debut, “Naked Acts,” finally received a wide release in 2024 thanks to Dash’s efforts. The beginning of the film is deliciously deceptive. The viewer believes Cicely (Jake-Ann Jones) is a prodigal daughter ending years of estrangement with her mother. Instead, she returns home to show off her dramatic weight loss and boast about booking a film role. Her mother, Lydia Love (Patricia DeArcy), was a Blaxploitation vamp (akin to actress Pam Grier). She is horrified at the prospect of Cicely joining the entertainment industry because she understands sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. 

“Naked Acts” is Black feminist film that examines the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse, disordered eating and whether there is any difference between artistic nudity and exploitation in a racist and patriarchal society that commodifies women’s image. Can Black women fit within a sensuous yet innocent archetype without reinforcing misogynoir stereotypes?

 It also examines the messiness of relationships. Lydia may be hypocritical, but she’s right to be concerned. Cicely’s director and former boyfriend Joel (Ron Cephas Jones) tries to be protective, but he’s also prioritizing his own desires. There are no clear answers to the questions posed, but the themes remain relevant.