Black Barbie – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

EDA Awards @ Tallgrass Film Festival 2023 – Jennifer Merin reports

October 7, 2023December 12, 2023 Jennifer Merin best female-directed feature, best female-directed short, Black Barbie, brandy mcdonnell, EDA Awards, jelly, jemie broadnax, jennifer merin, lonita cook, maryann johanson, melanie addington, rachel west, tallgrass film festival, Tallgrass Film Festival 2023, this is concrete

The Alliance of Women film Journalists partnered with Tallgrass Film Festival to present EDA Awards for Best Female Directed Films at the festival’s 21st edition, held in Wichita, Kansas from October 5 to 8, 2023. This is the third consecutive year of the partnership. With “Stubbornly Independent” as its motto, Tallgrass Film Festival, one of the nation’s leading regional film festivals, founded in 2003, aims to foster an appreciation of the cinematic arts by creating shared experiences around the international medium of film. Women in film are high priority on the festival’s agenda and the program presents a high percentage of female-directed films.

Festivals Reviews

BLACK BARBIE (SXSW2023) – Review by Leslie Combemale

March 13, 2023March 12, 2023 Leslie Combemale Beulah Mitchell, Black Barbie, documentary, Hayley Marie Norman, Kitty Black Perkins, Lagueria Davis, Mattel, Ruth Handler, Shindana Toy Company, Stacey McBride Irbie, sxsw2023

Though she didn’t really know it as a child, filmmaker Lagueria Davis had the great good fortune of growing up with an aunt, Beulah Mitchell, who was an important part of Barbie history. When Davis moved to LA to follow her dream of becoming a filmmaker, she sometimes stayed with her aunt. It was then she discovered Mitchell was an integral part of bringing Black Barbie into being. Mitchell, who started on the assembly line at Mattel, encouraged Mattel owner Ruth Handler to create a doll that would look more like her.