The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jennifer Abod Mary Duprey |
Written by | Jennifer Abod |
Release date |
|
Running time | 73 minutes |
Country | United States |
The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen is a 2016 biographical documentary film by Jennifer Abod and Mary Duprey, depicting the life of Angela Bowen. Bowen grew up in Boston during the Jim Crow era, and grew up to become a classical ballerina, a noted dance teacher, a black lesbian feminist activist, a writer and a professor at Cal State Long Beach.
The film looks into the life of Angela Bowen (1936–2018), who was a black lesbian feminist activist, a classical ballerina and renowned dance teacher, and ultimately a professor in the California State University system. Her activism was equally strong in all aspects of her life – she was as impassioned in her advocacy for the arts as she was for LGBTQI rights, which she championed as strongly as she did black women's rights.
The Passionate Pursuits follows Bowen's life from her childhood as a black girl in inner-city Boston during the Jim Crow era across the decades, until she became a legendary figure in her pursuits as a teacher, writer, feminist and activist. The film includes historic footage, photographs and interviews with key people from her past, such as her dance mentor, her dance partner, her former husband, her children, activists, and scholars. Interwoven throughout the film's narrative is the recognition of how race, class, gender and sexuality influenced her, and played into her choices and her survival strategies.
Director Jennifer Abod, who is a radio personality, musician, feminist activist and journalist, first met Angela Bowen in 1979. The two became life partners, eventually marrying in 2013, after more than 30 years together. [1] Abod began making The Passionate Pursuits in 2000, at the onset of Bowen's Alzheimer's disease, in an effort to capture and share the extraordinary life of a woman whose passion and brilliance had pushed beyond the oppressive barriers of sexism and racism. [2]
In 2014, Abod launched a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo, [3] donations drive project to fund the film, fueled by orders of her film and book, The Old Women’s Project. [4]
The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen met with positive reviews, and garnered several awards.
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Professor of Women's Studies at Spelman College, wrote in a review of the film: "'Passionate Pursuits' is a compelling portrait of an important figure in the evolution of contemporary Black feminist history in the United States. The extraordinary life of Angela Bowen—dancer, writer, scholar, activist, professor—provides a window on important aspects of 20th century African American history, women's history and LGBTQ history." [5] Dee Jay Cox, in a review for CV Weekly, opined that "The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen will inspire audiences to pursue their dreams with tenacity and courage." [2]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Some Prefer Cake | Viewers Choice – Best Documentary | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won |
Clarion Awards | Television Documentary Program - Local or Regional | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
Milan International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival | Best Documentary | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice | Acey Social Justice Feminist Award | Jennifer Abod | Won | |
Black International Cinema, Berlin | Best Documentary Film on the Black Experience | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
Cinema Systers Film Festival | Best Documentary, Audience Choice Award | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
PBS To the Contrary Film Festival | Best Television Documentary Program | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
Best US History Documentary | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | ||
Tampa Bay Gay & Lesbian Film Festival | Jury Award (runner up) | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Nominated | |
Nhdocs - The New Haven Documentary Film Festival | Audience Award, Best Feature Film | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
Sky TV-laF | Mix Milano Award | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival | Audience Award for Best Documentary Film | The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen | Won | |
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logical result of feminism. Lesbian feminism was most influential in the 1970s and early 1980s, primarily in North America and Western Europe, but began in the late 1960s and arose out of dissatisfaction with the New Left, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, sexism within the gay liberation movement, and homophobia within popular women's movements at the time. Many of the supporters of Lesbianism were actually women involved in gay liberation who were tired of the sexism and centering of gay men within the community and lesbian women in the mainstream women's movement who were tired of the homophobia involved in it.
Barbara Jean Hammer was an American feminist film director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. She is known for being one of the pioneers of the lesbian film genre, and her career spanned over 50 years. Hammer is known for having created experimental films dealing with women's issues such as gender roles, lesbian relationships, coping with aging, and family life. She resided in New York City and Kerhonkson, New York, and taught each summer at the European Graduate School.
Karla Jay is a distinguished professor emerita at Pace University, where she taught English and directed the women's and gender studies program between 1974 and 2009. A pioneer in the field of lesbian and gay studies, she is widely published.
Angela Robinson is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer. Outfest Fusion LGBTQ People of Color Film Festival awarded Robinson with the Fusion Achievement Award in 2013 for her contribution to LGBTQ+ media visibility.
Sonali Gulati is an Indian American independent filmmaker, feminist, grass-roots activist, and educator.
Cheryl Dunye is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye's work often concerns themes of race, sexuality, and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians. She is known as the first out black lesbian to ever direct a feature film with her 1996 film The Watermelon Woman. She runs the production company Jingletown Films based in Oakland California.
Pratibha Parmar is a British writer and filmmaker. She has made feminist documentaries such as Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth and My Name is Andrea about Andrea Dworkin.
Cheryl L. Clarke is an American lesbian poet, essayist, educator and a Black feminist community activist who continues to dedicate her life to the recognition and advancement of Black and Queer people. Her scholarship focuses on African-American women's literature, black lesbian feminism, and the Black Arts Movement in the United States. For over 40 years, Cheryl Clarke worked at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and maintains a teaching affiliation with the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Women and Gender Studies, though retired. In addition, Clarke serves on the board of the Newark Pride Alliance. She currently lives in Hobart, N.Y., the Book Village of the Catskills, after having spent much of her life in New Jersey. With her life partner, Barbara Balliet, she is co-owner of Bleinheim Hill Books, a new, used, and rare bookstore in Hobart. Actively involved in her community, Clarke along with her sister Breena Clarke, a novelist, organizes the Hobart Festival of Women Writers each September
Training Rules is a 2009 American documentary co-produced and co-directed by Dee Mosbacher and Fawn Yacker. It is narrated by Diana Nyad.
Pariah is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Dee Rees. It tells the story of Alike, a 17-year-old Black teenager embracing her identity as a lesbian. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Excellence in Cinematography Award.
Jennifer Abod is an American feminist activist, musician, journalist, and filmmaker.
Amber L. Hollibaugh is an American writer, filmmaker and political activist, largely concerned with feminist and sexual politics.
Madeleine Lim is a filmmaker, producer, director, cinematographer and LGBTQ activist. She is the founding Executive Director of the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), and an adjunct professor of film studies at the University of San Francisco. Lim is also a co-founder of SAMBAL and the US Asian Lesbian Network in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mona's 440 Club was the first lesbian bar to open in San Francisco, California in 1936. It continued to draw a lesbian clientele into the 1950s. Mona's and the gay bars of that era were an important part of the history of LGBT culture in San Francisco.
Angela Bowen was an American dance teacher, English professor, writer, and a lesbian rights activist. She was also the subject of an award-winning 2016 documentary.
Radical Harmonies is a 2002 American independent documentary film directed and executive produced by Dee Mosbacher that presents a history of women's music, which has been defined as music by women, for women, and about women. The film was screened primarily at LGBTQ film festivals in 2003 and 2004.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor is an American memorial wall in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, New York City, dedicated to LGBTQ "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes". The wall is located inside of the Stonewall Inn and is a part of the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history. The first fifty nominees were announced in June 2019, and the wall was unveiled on June 27, 2019, as a part of the Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 events. Each year five additional names will be added.
Lesbian erasure is the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or reexplain evidence of lesbian women or relationships in history, academia, the news media, and other primary sources. Lesbian erasure also refers to instances wherein lesbian issues, activism, and identity is deemphasized or ignored within the LGBT community.
Taghmeda Achmat, commonly known as Midi Achmat, is one of South Africa's most well known lesbian activists. Achmat co-founded the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) with her partner and fellow activist Theresa Raizenberg on 10 December 1998.
Shitou is a Chinese activist, actress, filmmaker, multimedia artist, and gay icon. She has been active in the Chinese gay scene since the 1990s and was the first lesbian to come out on Chinese television.