“Doing the thing”
“I think the cannons end up being explained both by what they leave out and by what they let in,” Criterion President Peter Becker told The New York Times in an interview in which he admits that the film collection was not done well through black filmmakers.The Times reports that of the 1,034 films found lately in the Criterion collection, there are only nine titles made through black filmmakers.Of the black administrators who made the Criterion Cup, 4 are from America (Charles Burnett, William Greaves, Spike Lee, who has two films, and Oscar Micheaux) and 4 are from outside the United States (Steve McQueen, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Ousmane Sembane, Euzhan Palcy).
“I can’t say anything about it to make sure everything’s okay,” Becker said of the lack of black administrators in the Criterion collection.”The fact that things are missing, and in particular that black voices are missing, is harmful, and that is clear.We want to solve this problem.”
“As a filmmaker, she has sought to be part of the Criterion Collection, she hopes to get that call,” director Gina Prince-Bythewood told The Times.”Every month, they take into account an alert about the release of their films, and each and every month I open it to see if they stand out to the filmmakers.And that never happens.
Ava DuVernay told The Times that through the most commonly black administrators in the Criterion collection, the company has contributed to “the segregation of cinema on the art house circuit.”The filmmaker added: “There are all those doors that are closed to the black filmmakers.minimisation of the black film canon. But it also minimizes the audience, thinking they wouldn’t be interested in Haile Gerima’s “Sankofa” or “Ashes and Embers,” or that they wouldn’t need to see all of Julie Dash’s work.”
Becker promises to increase diversity within the Criterion collection and is building a “conservation advisory group” that “will work with him to identify acquisition targets and avoid the long-term exclusion of Julie Dash or Barry Jenkins.” The Times reports: “It also plans to hire more black employees; lately there are none at the control level. Becker said the company” is beginning to train senior control for all of our control groups in terms of anti-racist recruiting practices. “
Visit the New York Times to read Criterion’s full report on the lack of black filmmakers.
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