This page contains links to articles, interviews, and videos that can be incorporated into your syllabus in preparation for an event or afterward for post-event discussion and research. Go to saic.edu/cate for detailed event information.
SOJOURNER TRUTH FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS: INTERIOR LIVES
Thursday, September 14, 6:00 p.m. CT
Gene Siskel Film Center 164 N. State St.
Presented in partnership with the University of Chicago's Film Studies Center, Sisters in Cinema, and the Gene Siskel Film Center, with support from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).
Please note that All CATE events will have real-time captioning (CART). Hearing loops, wheelchair seating, and companion seating are also available at the Gene Siskel Film Center. For other accessibility requests, please visit saic.edu/access or write cate@saic.edu
In 1976, an extraordinary group of Black feminist artists organized the first-ever Black women’s film festival: the Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts. Four decades later, a new generation of artists, curators, and scholars have revived the festival. Foregrounding Black women’s interiority, this program kicks off four days of screenings and discussions, commemorating the original event and celebrating the rich legacy of Black feminist filmmaking that continues today.
Featuring works by Aarin Burch, Zeinabu irene Davis, Cheryl Dunye, Jada-Amina, S. Pearl Sharp, Cauleen Smith, Paige Taul, Yvonne Welbon, and Fronza Woods and a post-screening discussion with Burch, Davis, Jada-Amina, and Taul, moderated by Sarah Oberholtzer, Program Manager, Sisters in Cinema.
A Sister in Cinema: An Interview with Yvonne Welbon
Vida Cross | Journal of Film and Video Vol.55 (4) | 2003 | p.41-44
Cauleen Smith
Leslie Hewitt | Bomb (116) | 2011 | p. 88-95
WAKING LIFE: Siddhartha Mitter on the art of Cauleen Smith
Siddhartha Mitter | Artforum international | Vol.57 (9) | 2019
The 1976 Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts: A Speculative History of the First Black Women’s Film Festival
Hayley O’Malley | Feminist Media Histories (2022) Vol. 8 (3) | 127–154.
Cheryl Dunye’s Janine
Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer | La Cinema Club
Two Films By Fronza Woods
Another Screen | December 1, 2021
An Interview with Fronza Woods
Independent Cinema Office
Artist and Writer to Know: Jada-Amina
Sheer | 2021
Paige Taul Explores Blackness Through Film
Vocalo | September 22, 2022
Sisters in the Life by 
L. A. Rebellion by 
Women Filmmakers of the African and Asian Diaspora by Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts, University of Chicago, Spring 2023
Zeinabu irene Davis Distributor Page
Conversations at the Edge Lecture Recordings
Conversation at the Edge video recordings (2016–present.) Available with SAIC login credentials.