Documenting Michelle

Michelle Parkerson is a writer, performance artist and filmmaker with a career that spans five decades. When one immerses themself in Parkerson’s work, there is a sense of freedom and an unapologetic pursuit of ideas by a careful hand. One also wonders “what would the landscape of American film look like if voices like hers were supported when they deserved to be?” in the words of cultural critic Angelica Jade Bastien. Championed in The Village Voice by esteemed critic Greg Tate, Parkerson was part of a wave of “New Black Cinema” in the early 1980s that bucked Hollywood stereotypes to create authentic, nuanced stories about Black life, which for her included a focus on the stories of Black lesbians like her. She cites Chantal Akerman, Maya Deren, Doris Chase, Shirley Clarke and Oscar Micheaux among her influences. The majority of her films are documentaries where she has continuously explored her curiosity about “Black women who define their own criteria for success in their particular art form.” Her narrative short Sojourn (1973) won a student Academy Award and was shot in Philadelphia where she completed her undergraduate studies at Temple University. 20 years later, she completed another work of short fiction, Odds and Ends, when she participated in the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. “Choice is a real base of power,” said Parkerson in 1998. “And I always wanted to have options in my expressions.” Filmmaker Yvonne Welbon captures the weight of Parkerson’s considerable influence: “For many black lesbian media makers, Parkerson was our Spike Lee. She was the first black lesbian filmmaker, and sometimes also the first black woman filmmaker that we knew. She was an out black lesbian making movies and she had been doing so for a long time. Because of her, so many of us believed that we too could become filmmakers.” This two-night program showcases the remarkable work of a 71-year-old American filmmaker whose vital work has gone under the radar for far too long.—Beandrea July