2023
Short Documentary(Philadelphia Premiere)(Best Short Documentary Nominee)

Bone Black: Midwives vs. the South

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Bone Black: Midwives vs. The South is an experimental documentary about the history and erasure of Black midwives in the American South and how the attack on birth workers has contributed toward the Black infant and maternal mortality crisis.

Screenings

Virtual

August 2 – August 4

Directors Spotlight

A picture of a non-binary person named Imani Dennison. They are standing against a soft green background. They have short, curly blond hair and are wearing a black sweater layered over a white collared shirt. Their outfit also includes dark green, loose-fitting trousers, and white sneakers with thick soles and tan accents. They have a calm and confident expression on their face with one of their feet casually propped up on a light wooden box with two handles on its sides, adding a sense of relaxed poise to their stance.

Imani Nikyah Dennison

Director

Imani Dennison, she/they, is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and award winning Filmmaker born in Louisville, Kentucky. Imani graduated from Howard University where they studied Political Science and Photography. Imani’s work interrogates histories of Black culture in the South and African diaspora, usually centered in folklore, fantasy, and hidden histories. Imani is a 2023 Flaherty curator fellow and head Programmer at Black Science Fiction; a Black led creative experiment dedicated to the preservation of Black imagination. Imani has created commissioned documentary works for PBS, Tribeca, ITVS, and Procter & Gamble. Imani is a part of the 2022 Tribeca Queen Collective Directing Program where they recently released their latest film, Bone Black: Midwives vs the South that made its international premier at the Tribeca Film Festival. This work has gone on to win Best Short Documentary at both the 2023 Black Star Film festival and New Orleans Film festival. Imani is currently a 2023 Chicken & Egg/POV grant recipient allowing them to advance on finishing their short creative non-fiction film, The People Could Fly about the ritual of roller skating and how roller rinks emerged as sanctuaries for Black culture in Louisville, Kentucky.

Year
2023
Runtime
21 minutes
Country
United States, Ghana
Language
English
Director
Imani Nikyah Dennison
Cast
Maria Milton, Efe Osaren, Alia Richmond, Luisah Teish
Cinematographer
Cathy Ye
Composer
Nyokabi Kariũki, Chris Ryan Williams
Editor
Stellan Clark
Executive Producer
Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere, Loretha Jones, Sandra Nam
Music
Cinque “Ignabu” Kemp, Steve Souryal
Producer
Flor de oro Tejada
Production Design
Helen Peña
Premiere
Philadelphia

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