"Heartrending, fearlessly personal meditations..."
Suzanne, Suzanne (1982) 4K Restoration
Older Women and Love (1987) 2K Digitization
Finding Christa (1991) 2K Digitization
The KKK Boutique Ain't Just Rednecks (1994) 2K Digitization
Take Your Bags (1998) 2K Digitization
A String of Pearls (2002) 2K Digitization
Date | Theater | City | Tickets |
---|---|---|---|
Starts Feb 3, 2023 | BAM | Brooklyn, NY | bam.org |
January 25-February 5, 2023 | IFFR Cinema Regained | Rotterdam, The Netherlands | iffr.com |
February 7, 2023 | KASKcinema | Ghent, Belgium | kaskcinema.be |
February 16, 2023 | Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts 2023 | Chicago, IL | filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu |
February 23, 2023 | Maysles | Harlem, NY | maysles.org |
Feb 24-26 | Winnipeg Film Group | Winnipeg, Canada | winnipegfilmgroup.com |
February 26, 2023 | VIFF Centre | Vancouver, Canada | viff.org |
February | SIFF | Seattle, WA | siff.net |
April 7, 2023 | Gateway Film Center | Columbus, OH | gatewayfilmcenter.org |
May 4-12, 2023 | Lightbox Film Center and Scribe | Philadelphia, PA | lightboxfilmcenter.org |
May 2023 | Block Cinema | Evanston, IL | blockmuseum.northwestern.edu |
July 2023 | National Gallery of Art | Washington, DC | nga.gov |
"Camille Billops and James Hatch raised awareness and concern about the "isms" (racism, classism, and ageism) embedded in the complex narratives that have shaped American culture, politics, and identities throughout American history."
The first-ever worldwide theatrical retrospective of the complete films of Camille Billops and James Hatch centers Black cultural life and storytelling on screen with six autobiographical works that innovate documentary form and artfully weave together personal histories and social issues.
The films of Camille Billops and James Hatch have previously screened at festivals and cultural institutions internationally. A String of Pearls, Take Your Bags, and Finding Christa were selected for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Finding Christa won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, and Take Your Bags was also selected. Suzanne, Suzanne and Finding Christa were selected for New Directors/New Films (ND/NF), the annual festival held by the Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center. Take Your Bags, The KKK Boutique ain't Just Rednecks, and Suzanne, Suzanne were selected for International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Finding Christa was part of the 1993 Whitney Biennial.
This worldwide theatrical release is presented by Third World Newsreel in cooperation with Dion Hatch and the Hatch-Billops Collection Estate. This program is made possible through support from the Ford Foundation. The new 4K restoration of Suzanne, Suzanne is by IndieCollect with thanks to Sandra Schulberg, Eva Yuma and team. Third World Newsreel is thrilled to unveil a new trailer for this special theatrical release.
"Their films are experimental documentaries that move and challenge critics, students and general audiences alike..."
Camille Billops (1933-2019) was a fearless filmmaker, artist, sculptor, historian, archivist, and staunch supporter of Black art and artists. Billops came into her own within the converging contexts of the 1960s civil and human rights struggles, New York’s emerging Black artists movement, and her personal struggles for affirmation. Her work is autobiographical, interpretive, and challenging. Without apology, she successfully drew from her life’s experiences, her education, and her observations of the world around her to carve out a space for her voice to be heard. She and her husband James made their loft in SoHo a hub for artistic collaborations, collecting thousands of books, documents, photographs, and ephemera related to Black culture. They held salons with Black artists, performers, and musicians, and recorded more than 1,200 oral histories, which were published in an annual journal called Artist and Influence.
James V. Hatch (1928-2020) was a historian of Black theater who taught English and theater at the City College of New York for three decades. He has written and co-written more than a dozen books, including "The Roots of African American Drama: An Anthology of Early Plays, 1858-1938" (1990), which he edited with Leo Hamalian, and "Sorrow Is the Only Faithful One: The Life of Owen Dodson" (1993), about the titular Black poet and playwright.
To learn more about the Billops-Hatch archives, visit
"Camille Billops and James Hatches film work deeply affected my practice as an artist working in non-fiction media. Their courageous personal autovisual investigation into family, memory, archive and the imagination ignited in me my personal journey of discover within the psychic-social terrain of family, community and identity."
"Remains one of the most powerful documentaries of domestic life."
"Dispels myths about the type of sexual life older women enjoy... focusing on strong women who battle to get their way and who also pay the price by taking risks..."
"Full of expressions of sponteneous emotion, it is terrifically artful..."
"For Camille Billops, autobiography is a means to a new black documentary style."
Best Docu-Drama, National Black Programming Consortium / Black Public Media (1994)
International Film Festival Rotterdam (1999)Toronto International Film Festival (1999)
Sundance Film Festival (1999)
Toronto International Film Festival (2002)
A Third World Newsreel Release with the support of Ford Foundation and the cooperation of Dion Hatch and the Billops-Hatch Archives.
Bookings: Malkah Manouel - Trailer: Clementine Narcisse - Poster: Xan Black - Press: Allison Lambdin