Zeinabu irene Davis (born April 13, 1961) is an American filmmaker and professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. In 1985, she received her M.A in African studies at UCLA and went on to earn her M.F.A in Film and Television production in 1989. Davis is known as one of the graduates and filmmakers of the L.A. Rebellion. The L.A. Rebellion refers to the first African-American students who studied film at UCLA. Through their collective efforts, they sought to put an end to the prejudices of Hollywood by creating experimental and unconventional films. The main goal of these films was to create original Black stories and bring them to the main screens. Her works in film include short narratives, documentaries and experimental films that focus heavily on the African American female perspective.
Personal life, education, and career
Born in Philadelphia, Zeinabu irene Davis gravitated towards arts, "theater and education". With a Catholic school background, Davis studied at Brown University, then later traveled to Kenya and studied there until the government shut down the university after some students had participated in political protest. In Kenya she met Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and learned about the different peoples of Kenya and how they are underrepresented or misrepresented in film. She pursued her first master's degree in 1983 focusing on African studies, later receiving a Master of Fine Arts in film and video production from UCLA in 1989. She has received numerous grants and fellowships from such sources as the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Film Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts. She has taught at many colleges, including Antioch College and Northwestern University, but has more recently moved to teach at UC San Diego, where she currently serves as a Professor of Communication.
Films
As a filmmaker, her films have been categorized as belonging to the genre of Black feminism due to the ways she incorporates the unique experiences of African American women. According to film scholar Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, Davis believes that black filmmakers are "developing a new genre that constitutes a black aesthetic". Furthermore, Davis was part of the L.A. Rebellion, which was a movement involving independent black filmmakers (who attended UCLA) aiming to reproduce alternative, humanizing, and more accurate images of black people unlike classical Hollywood cinema. From her experience of being part of this movement, Davis feels passionately about working within groups or organizations, especially as a beginner. She believes that the dynamic and different perspective help filmmakers grow and develop their unique styles.
Cycles (1989)
Working as the director, producer, editor and cast for her first short film, Zeinabu irene Davis depicts a woman's growing anxiety as she awaits her overdue period. While waiting for mother nature's monthly visit, the protagonist performs African-based rituals of purification. She calls upon spirits to clean not only her body but her house and soul. Jacqueline Stewart with UCLA describes Davis's techniques as she “combines beautifully intimate still and moving images of the woman's body and home space, along with playful stop-motion sequences”.
Trumpetistically, Clora Bryant (1989)
Zeinabu irene Davis captures black woman icons with her unapologetic and undistorted lens. She depicts the life of Clora Bryant, the star and protagonist of Trumpetistically, Clora Bryant, as experiences setbacks from stereotyping and unfair treatment in the jazz world, despite her widely-recognized talent and unwavering passion. The 1989 film dives into the life and struggles of Clora Bryant–an indisputable jazz icon–through the documentary lens of the unheeded real. Beginning with her early life when she fell in love with the trumpet and ending well after Bryant lost her ability to play, this documentary shows how one woman defied the odds to become of the best trumpet players of any generation.