On 7 November 2013, George Mason University’s Film & Media Studies Program hosted a screening of the documentary The New Black, followed by a Q&A with director Yoruba Richen. The event was the latest in FAMS' Visiting Filmmakers Series, which brings a new film and filmmaker to campus each semester, helping to connect students and the community with artists and their work.
The New Black tells the story of how the African American community is grappling with gay rights in light of the current marriage equality movement and the ongoing struggle for civil rights. The film interviews activists, families, and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage. The New Black takes viewers into the church pews and onto the streets in order to show the historic fight to win marriage equality. Richen uses Maryland’s 2012 same-sex marriage referendum -- commonly referred to as Question 6 -- as a framework for her exploration of this national issue.
Prior to the screening of the film, Richen visited Ben Steger’s Documentary Filmmaking class. There, she discussed her background and experiences working as a filmmaker. A documentarian who has directed and produced films in the United States, Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia, and that have screened at numerous festivals around the world, Richen now teaches documentary film at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and is a Guggenheim Fellow. The New Black premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival this year and later won Audience Awards at AFI Docs 2013, Philly Q Fest 2013, and Frameline LGBT Film Festival. It will also air on PBS’ Independent Lens in June 2014.
Richen also offered students advice on how to be successful in the world of filmmaking. She stressed the importance of finding a mentor, applying for grants, and seeking out filmmaker support programs. She advised students to value themselves and their work.
After the class session, about 150 students, faculty, and community members gathered in the Johnson Center Cinema to watch The New Black. Following the film, Richen was joined on stage by FAMS Director Cynthia Fuchs and Film & Video Studies Director Giovanna Chesler to engage the audience in a discussion. People asked about the filmmaking and editing process, the subjects of the film, and the state of the LGBT movement in the United States.
One of these audience members, Anita Taylor, a Mason Professor in Communication, was actively involved in supporting Question 6. Taylor asked a question regarding Brendon Ayanbadejo, former linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens and gay rights activist. Richen revealed that she interviewed Ayanbadejo, but chose not to use that footage, in favor of a closer focus on the campaigns in Maryland.
Taylor said, “I liked the film a lot and thought it was well done. I think it opens valuable conversations… Seemed to me the filmmaker was fair to all sides in the debate.”
The New Black and Yoruba Richen is the latest event in the Film and Media Studies’ Visiting Filmmakers Series. Past films and filmmakers in the Series include Poster Girl, with Sara Nesson and Sgt. Robyn Murray, The Waiting Room with Peter Nicks, Better This World with Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega, and, last spring, Reportero with Bernardo Ruiz.
The Visiting Filmmakers Series brings students into contact with artists and their work, and invites collaborations across the university's programs and departments. Mika’il Petin, the Associate Director of African and African American Studies, one of the programs that cosponsored The New Black event, had this to say about the Visiting Filmmakers Series:
“I think the types of films FAMS has brought to campus have worked well in complementing what students learn in their courses… The presence of the filmmaker on campus creates a space for good old fashioned communal dialogue about issues in our world that we should all care about.”
He also emphasized the importance of cross-departmental collaboration, saying, “The way FAMS connects with offices and departments at Mason, thus reaching audiences who may not have valued films and their filmmakers in a co-curricular way, makes sense at a university [like Mason]. What FAMS gets is that collaboration makes our university better!”
The New Black and Yoruba Richen at George Mason University was sponsored by the Film & Media Studies Program, and cosponsored by African and African American Studies, Cultural Studies, English, Film & Video Studies, the Honors College, the LGBTQ Resources Program, Sociology & Anthropology, University Life, and Women & Gender Studies.
November 20, 2013