Thérèse Sita-Bella, born Thérèse Bella Mbida in 1933, was a Cameroonian film director who is widely acknowledged as the first female filmmaker in Africa. Sita-Bella was born to the Beti tribe in southern Cameroon, then a French colony, and received her education from Catholic missionaries. … Read MoreThérèse Sita-Bella (1933-2006)
Jessie Maple Patton, a pioneer for African American women in the film industry, was born on February 14, 1937, in McComb, Mississippi. There were 11 children in the Maple family, including sisters Lorrain Maple Crosby, Peggy Maple Lincoln, Debbie Maple Reed, Camilla Maple Clarke Doremus, … Read MoreJessie Maple Patton (1937-2023)
Screenwriter, filmmaker, actor, and social critic Carlton Moss was born in Newark, New Jersey, on February 14, 1909. The son of Frederick Douglass Moss, a coachman for an affluent family, and Sarah Vincent Moss, he grew up both in New Jersey and North Carolina. As … Read MoreCarlton Moss (1909-1997)
Will Packer is a film producer who was best known for producing the 94th Annual Academy Awards (the Oscars) on March 27, 2022. Packer was born on April 11, 1974, to Birice Paker and William Packer Sr. in St. Petersburg, Florida. He completed high school … Read MoreWill Packer (1974- )
Born on September 16, 1860, William D. “Bill” Foster was a late 19th/ early 20th century showman who was among the first to prove the commercial viability of making Black-cast films and marketing them to Black audiences. He was the first African American to establish … Read MoreWilliam D. Foster (1860-1940)
Ernest Roscoe Dickerson is an American director, cinematographer, and screenwriter. Most notably, he directed Juice (1992), which he co-wrote along with Gerard Brown. He also directed TV episodes of Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knights (1995); Bones (2001); Never Die Alone (2004); and several episodes … Read MoreErnest Roscoe Dickerson (1951- )
Barry Jenkins is a film director, writer, producer, and screenwriter. In 2016, he won the Academy Award for Best Picture for Moonlight as well as the Golden Globe Award. His screen adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel If Beale Street Could Talk received critical acclaim and … Read MoreBarry Jenkins (1979- )
In 1983, 25-year-old Euzhan Palcy became the first black woman to direct a film produced by a major Hollywood studio. Palcy was born in the French colony of Martinique on January 13th, 1958. Her interest in films began when she was ten as she felt an attraction towards them. At the time, … Read MoreEuzhan Palcy (1958- )
Mario Cain Van Peebles was born in Mexico City, Mexico on January 15, 1957 and is the son of writer, director, and actor Melvin Van Peebles and German actress and photographer Maria Marx. He graduated from Saint Thomas More School in Connecticut in 1974 and from Columbia University in 1978 with a bachelor’s … Read MoreMario Van Peebles (1957- )
Allen and Albert Hughes are American film directors and producers, known for works such as Menace Society II and The Book of Eli. Albert was born minutes before Allen on April 1, 1972 to an African-American father, Albert Hughes, and Armenian-American mother, Aida, in Detroit, Michigan. Their parents divorced when they were … Read MoreAllen and Albert Hughes (1972- )
