| Zeinabu irene Davis | |
|---|---|
Davis at the University of California, San Diego, 2010 |
|
| Born | April 13, 1961 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Brown University, University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Director, producer, professor |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | Marc Arthur Chéry |
Zeinabu irene Davis is an African American filmmaker and professor of the Department of Communication [1] at the University of California, San Diego. The filmmakers's husband and daughters inspire Davis' films and serve as the driving force for her career. Her films are created to show alternative perspectives from the mainstream and to show a more realistic and attainable media image.
During her undergraduate career, Davis realized her passion for film-making through an internship experience at PBS in Rhode Island and her experience overseas. She discovered her love for working in the production process because she is able to control the creation of images.
One of Davis' biggest challenges as an African American woman filmmaker is the high level of difficulty in attaining funding for her films. Investors are apprehensive about funding independent films due to the very competitive nature of such platforms that exist within the film production community. The year she studied abroad doing an internship in Kenya provided her inspiration for a project she hopes to one day create. to co-direct a feature film on the history of the Kenyan people.
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Davis was born in Philadelphia to a working class family. With the support of her parents, Davis is the first in her family to complete college. Her parents encouraged her to lean towards law due to her argumentative nature; however, they completely supported whatever endeavors she chose.
Upon graduating high school, Davis was accepted into Brown University, where she started as an International Relations student. She soon realized the major wasn’t for her and decided to create her own. At the time, the university offered a program in which students had the ability and freedom to create a major of their choice. Zeinabu graduated as a Mass Media Images of Third World Peoples. She continued her education at the University of California, Los Angeles and received a MFA in Motion Picture/Television Production.[2]
As an undergraduate, Davis spent a year abroad in Kenya. While in Kenya, she worked with Ngugi wa Thiong’o on a play he had written. She worked hands-on building a theater, bleachers and an entire set. The first three opening nights brought in thousands of people. Sadly, on the third night, the set got bulldozed by the Kenyan government and the production lacked funds to continue its operation.
During her time spent in Kenya, Davis observed several filmmakers document Kenya without involving the people of the region. This observation serves as her foundation to hopefully one day truly document the Kenyan population.
Davis began her career teaching at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1989. In 1991, she moved to teach in the Radio-TV-Film Department at Northwestern University. After teaching several years at Northwestern, Davis moved to San Diego, California to teach at the University of California, San Diego. The move was prompted due to her desire to teach a more diverse group of students. She wanted to give back to a community that was similar the one she grew up in.
| Year | Title | Contribution | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Filmstatement | Director | |
| 1983 | Recreating Black Women's Media Image | Director | |
| 1986 | Sweet Bird of Youth | Director | |
| 1986 | Crocodile Conspiracy | Director | |
| 1987 | Canta For Our Sisters | Director | |
| 1989 | Cycles | Director | Best Drama: National Black Programming Consortium; Best Experimental Film: Big Muddy Film Festival; Best of Category: Experimental, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame |
| 1991 | A Period Piece | Director | Honorable Mention: ETA Creative Arts Foundation, African American Women & The Arts Festival, Chicago. |
| 1991 | A Powerful Thang[4] | Director, Producer | Best Narrative, Lawrence Kasdan Award, 30th Ann Arbor Film Festival, Best Experimental Narrative, ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Chicago, Honorable Mention, Best Original Drama, American Film & Video Association, Honorable Mention, Best Feature, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Oakland, Honorable Mention, Best Production Design, Atlanta Film and Video Festival,
Honorable Mention, Best Experimental Narrative, 23rd Sinking Creek Film & Video Festival |
| 1995 | Mother of the River | Director | Best Film and Video, Children’s Jury, 12th Annual Chicago International Children’s Fest
Best Short Feature, 6th New England Children’s Film Festival Best of Category Chris Award, 34th Columbus International Film Festival Gold Award, Films for Family & Children Worldfest Charleston Silver Hugo, Chicago International Film and Video Festival |
| 1999 | Compensation | Director, Producer | 2002 Paul Robeson Prize, Best Film, Narrative Section,
Newark Museum 28th Annual Black Film Festival Gordon Parks Award, Best Director, 1999 Independent Feature Market, New York City “Outstanding Film” - Reel Black Award, Black Film & Video Network, Toronto Independent Spirit Award Nomination, Best First Feature under $500k, IFP-West |
| 2005 | Las Abuelas - Latina Grandmothers Explain the World and Other Stories of Faith | Co-director, Producer | |
| 2005 | Trumpetistically, Clora Bryant | Director, Producer | |
| 2008 | Delta Children: Future of the Blues | Co-director | |
| 2009 | Passengers | Director, Producer | |
| 2010 | Momentum: A Conversation with Black Women on Achieving Graduate Degrees | Director | |
| 2010 | Co-motion: Tales of Breastfeeding Woman | Director | |
| 2011 | Spirits of Rebellion: Black Film at UCLA[5] | Director | Work-in-progress |