Daughter of africanamerican filmmaker asks, what happened to. Kathleen collinss ecstatic selfdiscovery by yasmina. See all books authored by kathleen collins, including watching what we eat. Her film losing ground is one of the first features made by a black woman in america, and is an extremely rare narrative portrayal of a black female intellectual. The official trailer for kathleen collins losing ground starring seret scott, bill gunn, duane jones and gary bolling. A comedic drama, losing ground was one of the very first fictional features by an africanamerican woman filmmaker. Suzanne collins has written a book set in panem 64 years before the original dystopian trilogy and lionsgate has confirmed interest in adapting it for the big screen. Luckily, her previously unpublished stories are now seeing the light of day as well. The film that opens the series, kathleen collinss losing ground, from. Scott of the new york times and richard brody of the new yorker. Kathleen collins march 18, 1942 september 18, 1988 was an african american poet. That movie, losing ground 1982, parsed black intellectual life in new york city. Kathleen conwell collins prettyman march 18, 1942 september 18, 1988 was born.
D uring her lifetime, kathleen collins saw one of her screenplays become a movie losing ground 1982, which she also directedand one story and one play published. Kathleen collinss lost masterwork, losing ground the new. Kathleen collinss lost masterwork, losing ground the new yorker. Dec 03, 2016 kathleen collins was a writer and filmmaker who died in 1988 of breast cancer.
Marked as weak for his refusal to torture those charged with sorcery, heresy, devil worship or worse, hes given another task. Though she is now considered a pioneer, collins s work was overlooked and forgotten till 2015 when her film losing groundpremiered at the lincoln center as part of a series on africanamerican filmmakers, and was hailed as a masterpiece. An estranged mate, a mangled body and a powerful demon who calls her by name as a realm walker for the agency, juliana norris tracks deadly paranormal quarry using her unique ability to see magical signatures. Seret scott as sara in kathleen collinss losing ground, 1982. If you enjoy kate collins and are all caught up with her mystery books. Kathleen collins 5 kathleen collins 5 primary author only kathleen collins disambiguation author division kathleen collins is composed of at least 8 distinct authors, divided by their works. Visionary filmmaker kathleen collins featured at upcoming bam. Kathleen collinss ecstatic selfdiscovery by yasmina price the. Collinss next film, losing ground, followed in 1982 and starred seret scott, bill gunn, and duane jones.
Although it never played outside the film festival circuit during her lifetime director kathleen collins died in 1988 at the age of 46 and was mostly overlooked when it was first released, losing ground was later rediscovered by critics such as a. Dec, 2016 stories by kathleen collins ecco published december 6, 2016. Collins 1982 losing ground was restored and reissued in 2015. Posts about kathleen collins written by bookishjen. Kathleen collins was an africanamerican poet, playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, civil rights activist, and educator from jersey city, new jersey.
Her two feature narrativesthe cruz brothers and miss malloy 1980 and losing ground 1982furthered the. Dec 01, 2016 kathleen collinss groundbreaking 1982 movie losing ground opens on a black female philosophy professor seret scott talking camus and sartre to a roomful of students. Margo jefferson, author of negroland, reads the uncle by kathleen collins, taken from the story collection, whatever happened to interracial love. Bonus features commentary track by professors lamonda horton stallings and terri francis 2015 theatrical trailer the cruz brothers and miss malloy 1980, 50 mins, color kathleen collins and ronald gray s first film video interviews with ronald k. This book uses detailed analyses of collinss films to contextualise her work. Fans have waited two years for another of airds calleshire county police procedurals, and if you like golf, this wellcrafted whodunit was especially worth the. The writer and filmmakers subtle, harrowing unproduced plays deal with doubt, domestic confusion, and the persistent encroachments of color and of the.
In an era when poetry is increasingly compressed to fit our iphone screens, nathaniel mackey has been writing two astonishing long poemsmu and song of the andoumboulouacross multiple books for the past thirtyfive years. That story collection, now titled whatever happened to interracial love. In the 1970s collins wrote a series of short stories she called losing ground. Kathleen collins, who died in 1988 at age fortysix, was an africanamerican playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, and educator from jersey city. Kathleen collins, a pioneering playwright, filmmaker and screenwriter, had kept her breast cancer diagnosis a secret for eight years. Although losing ground was denied largescale exhibition, it was among the first films created by a black woman. Artist bill gunn is married to philosophy professor seret scott. Her two feature narrativesthe cruz brothers and miss malloy and losing ground furthered the range of black womens films. Her screenplay, which differs in some significant ways from the film, is included in screenplays of the africanamerican experience, 1991, edited by phyllis rauch klotman. Just before she died in 1988, she had finished a novel, play, and film script entitled conversations with julie. Nov 29, 2016 she was among the first black women to direct a featurelength film.
Kathleen collins has been writing since kindergarten. Kathleen collins kathleen collins biography poem hunter. Kathleen collins made the feature film, losing ground, in 1982, and died a few years later at age 46 from breast cancer. She was the first black woman to produce a feature length film.
Collinss work seamlessly integrates the africanamerican experience in her characters lives, creating rich, devastatingly familiar, fullbodied men, women, and children who transcend the symbolic, penetrating both the readers head and heart. Dec 01, 2016 collinss first and only feature, 1982s losing ground, was rediscovered last year. In losing ground, sara rogers played by the actor and theatre. Selected works of kathleen collins collins, kathleen, evans. Losing ground opens for a week starting friday, february 6th at the film society of lincoln center in new york.
The film that opens the series, kathleen collins s losing ground, from 1982, will play for a week, making up for the fact that it has never had a theatrical release. They were never published but she loved the title and kept it for her first feature film. And while her ability has drastically improved, her stories are still about fantasy worlds and the people who play in them. Buy a cheap copy of losing ground book by catherine aird. A philosopherfilmmaker, kathleen collins decisively redefined the parameters of african american film with losing ground 1982. Margo jefferson reads kathleen collins podcast granta. Losing ground is a amusing but standard menage a trois, set in a small college town. The kathleen collins revival continues with notes from a black. Losing ground by kathleen collins gary bolling, bill gunn. The story a little shorter than the other books in the series, still a good time killer. Browse author series lists, sequels, pseudonyms, synopses, book covers, ratings and awards. Losing ground, along with collins first film, the cruz brothers and miss malloy, a 50minute fantastical comedy drama, are both part of brooklyn academy of musics upcoming film.
Losing ground 1982, by the filmmaker, playwright, and novelist kathleen collins, is a particularly incandescent example of filmmaking as a process of defiant selfcreation. Kathleen collins was a pioneer african american playwright, filmmaker, civil rights activist, film editor, and educator. Losing ground, a film by kathleen collins about facebook. The film that opens the series, kathleen collinss losing ground, from 1982, will play for a week, making up for the fact that it has never had a theatrical release. She excels at her job, but her friends worry about her mysterious habit of dying in the line of duty without staying dead. What happened to kathleen collins the village voice. Kathleen collins losing ground, a classic africanamerican film about a black philosophy professor, sara and victor, her artist husband. Losing ground now looks and sounds as fresh, bracing and complex as it did when it was first filmed. I have found some other books that were wrote by kathleen collins other than the realm walkers series which i may purchase to see how i like them, and if they are anything like the realm series i know i wont be. Kathleen collinss whatever happened to interracial love. A groundbreaking film by director kathleen collins. During her lifetime, kathleen collins saw one of her screenplays become a movielosing ground 1982, which she also directedand one story. In 2015, her film losing ground, which had shown at festivals in 1982.
Feb 07, 2017 collins was an awardwinning playwright and filmmaker who died in 1988 from breast cancer, at the age of 46. It is a testament to kathleen collins incredible talent and a lasting treasure of. Kathleen collinss lost masterwork, losing ground the. Her 1982 film, losing ground, was one of the first features directed by an africanamerican. Losing ground 1982, by the filmmaker, playwright, and novelist kathleen collins. In collinss work, black womens quotidian struggles take on cosmic.
Now a new book has arrived, notes from a black womans diary, a grab. Twentyfive years after her mothers death, nina collins rescued the original negative and created a beautiful new digital master of her mothers film. Kathleen collins march 18 1942 september 18 1988 also known as kathleen conwell, kathleen conwell collins or kathleen collins prettyman was an africanamerican play. Kathleen collins march 18, 1942 september 18, 1988 was an africanamerican poet. The interior worlds of kathleen collinss fiction and film. Her most known work is the film losing ground, followed perhaps by two plays, in the midnight hour, and the brothers. The principle difference between this and other such films is that all the characters are africanamerican. Kathleen collins author of whatever happened to interracial.
It tells the story of sara rogers, a brilliant and beautiful black philosophy professor played by collinss close friend seret. Jan 30, 2015 the film that opens the series, kathleen collinss losing ground, from 1982, will play for a week, making up for the fact that it has never had a theatrical release. Losing ground has been added to your cart add to cart. The writer and filmmaker kathleen collins died in 1988, at the age of 46. Before the release of whatever happened to interracial love. Kathleen collins was a professor of film history, playwright, screenwriter, and director. Although losing ground was denied largescale exhibition, it was among the first films created by a black woman deliberately designed to tell a story intended for popular consumption, with a featurelength. Go to the disambiguation page to edit author name combination and separation. Kathleen collinss otherworldly women the new yorker. Prior to its release, it was listed as one of the most anticipated books of the fall of 2016 by the huffington post, new. Kathleen collinss short stories were almost lost to history. The film had its first theatrical release in 2015 at film society of lincoln center, opening the series tell it like it is. Feb 05, 2017 it was the release of the film losing ground, written and directed by kathleen in 1982, at a film festival at the lincoln center in manhattan in 2015 that brought her triumphantly into focus the.
Both contemporary and timeless, whatever happened to interracial love. Kathleen collins michael daugustino is a priest in the time of the inquisition. Kathleen collins march 18, 1942 september 18, 1988 also known as kathleen conwell, kathleen conwell collins or kathleen collins prettyman was an africanamerican poet, playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, civil rights activist, and educator from jersey city, new jersey. The rare instances that she actually finds some spare time, she spends it playing with her two boys. Losing ground is a semiautobiographical 1982 film written and directed by kathleen collins starring seret scott, bill gunn, and duane jones. Losing ground 1h 26min comedy, drama june 1982 usa sara, a cold college professor, and her husband, an ecstatic painter, spend a summer away from the city, straining their rocky relationship. It is the first featurelength drama directed by a black american woman since the 1920s and won first prize at the figueroa international film festival in portugal. This is one revelation of saidiya hartmans book wayward lives, beautiful. Kathleen collins was a pioneer africanamerican playwright, filmmaker, civil rights activist and educator. Kathleen collins books list of books by author kathleen collins.
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