African American Women In Cinema

It is said that around fifty percent of silent films were made by women, while not true due to the actual number being around to twenty to twenty-five percent; it doesn’t change the fact the ever since cinema was born, women were a vital part of it. Starting with Alice Guy-Blache who was the first woman director, starting in 1896 with the first narrative fiction film in history, La Fee Aux Choux(1896). The Silent Era of cinema had its doors open to women and they entered the industry in storm. Filmmakers like Guy-Blache, Clara Kimball Young, and Lois Weber were making their mark in the industry and eventually establishing their own companies. In fact, at least twenty film companies were run by women.

During this time women directors were able

Film editing wasn’t seen as creative and women film editors were unacknowledged in the credits, except for special cases like Booth. With the coming of sound in the 1926, editors lost the flexibility they once had the silent film era.

In the independent industry, African-American women were carving their share in the American film industry. However, their work is largely unknown and they weren’t as famous as their male counterparts and white women filmmakers. African American women wanted to establish a better image for african american and they were the critics of the society at the time.

Their films focused on establishing a better image for african-americans. African American women filmmakers were the critics of society and showed their frustrations on film. They tried different ways to have their films shown, “arranging theatrical exhibition and distribution or taking film prints directly to audiences themselves in order to reach more communities.” The first African American women filmmakers were Tressie Souders, A Woman's Error (1922), and Maria P. Williams, The Flames of Wrath (1923). While some tried to make it in the industry, others like the first filmmakers, made only one film before disappearing from the