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Michelle Parkerson

Michelle Parkerson
Parkerson in 2014
Born (1953-11-01) November 1, 1953 (age 71)
Washington D.C., U.S.
Occupation(s)Filmmaker and academic

Michelle Parkerson (born November 1, 1953) is an American filmmaker and academic. She was an assistant professor of Film and Media Arts at Temple University and has been an independent filmmaker since the 1980s, focusing particularly on feminist and LGBTQ political activism and issues.

Early life

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Michelle Parkerson was born and raised in Washington, D.C.[1] In the early 1980s, Parkerson and Essex Hemphill, a poet, activist, and friend of Parkerson's, would often perform spoken word poetry in D.C. coffeehouses and theaters.[2] They received a grant from the Washington Project for the Arts in 1983 to produce an "experimental dramatization" of their poetry entitled Murder on Glass.[2]

Education and career

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Parkerson majored in TV and film production and graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Temple University with the short film Sojourn, a collaboration with cinematographer Jimi Lyons; the film won a Junior Academy Award.[3][4] She is an alumna of the American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women (1991-1993).[5]

Parkerson heads the DC-based production company Eye of the Storm Productions.[6][7]

Parkerson has received funding from ITVS and the American Film Institute,[8][5] as well as a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation.[9] She was awarded the Prix du Public at the Festival International de Films de Femmes and the Audience and Best Biography Awards at the San Francisco International Film Festival.[10] Her films are distributed by Women Make Movies and Third World Newsreel.[11][12]

She was assistant professor in Film and Media Arts at Temple University.[10]

She published a volume of poetry, Waiting Rooms, in 1983.[13][14]

Parkerson was featured in the 2008 documentary black./womyn.: conversations with lesbians of African descent.[15]

Films

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Gloria J. Gibson describes how Parkerson's films "highlight the identities of black women as performers and social activists [and] serve as a major contributor to the development of a black documentary style that seeks a holistic approach to African American life."[16]

Her documentaries have featured major African-American figures including jazz musician Betty Carter, musical group Sweet Honey in the Rock, activist Stormé DeLarverie, and writer Audre Lorde, the latter two with a particular focus on sexuality and LGBTQ activism.[17][18][19][20] Her short film Odds and Ends is a lesbian Afrofuturist science fiction story.[21]

Filmography

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  • Sojourn (1973, with Jimi Lyons)[3]
  • ...But Then She's Betty Carter (1980)[17]
  • I Remember Betty (1987)[22]
  • Urban Odyssey (1991)[23]
  • Storme: Lady of the Jewel Box (1991)[19]
  • Odds and Ends (1993)[21]
  • Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock (1983, as producer)[24]
  • A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde (1995, with Ada Gay Griffin)[25]

Awards

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Bibliography

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  • Parkerson, Michelle. Waiting Rooms. Common Ground Press (1983).[13]

References

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  1. ^ Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey (1997-05-01). Women Filmmakers of the African & Asian Diaspora: Decolonizing the Gaze, Locating Subjectivity. SIU Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-8093-2120-9.
  2. ^ a b Duberman, Martin B. (2014). Hold tight gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS. New York: The New Press. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-1-59558-945-3.
  3. ^ a b Parkerson, Michelle; Gibson, Gloria J. (1988). "Michelle Parkerson Interview". Black Camera. 3 (1): 5–8. ProQuest 1309148948.
  4. ^ Tate, Greg (1992). "Cinematic Sisterhood". Flyboy in the Buttermilk: Essays on Contemporary America. Simon and Schuster. pp. 254–255. ISBN 9781501136979.
  5. ^ a b "DWW+ ALUMS". AFI CONSERVATORY. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  6. ^ Waldman, Diane; Walker, Janet (1999). Feminism and Documentary. University of Minnesota Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8166-3007-3.
  7. ^ "Eye of the Storm: The Films of Michelle Parkerson". Scribe Video Center. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08.
  8. ^ "A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde". ITVS. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  9. ^ "Profile: Michelle Parkerson | Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts 2023". UChicago Voices. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  10. ^ a b "Faculty & Staff". Temple University Film and Media Arts. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10.
  11. ^ "Michelle Parkerson". Women Make Movies. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  12. ^ "August 2024 News". Third World Newsreel. 2024-08-08. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  13. ^ a b Bobo, Jacqueline (2013-09-13). Black Women Film and Video Artists. Routledge. p. 179. ISBN 9781135225421. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  14. ^ "The Black Scholar Publishers Listing of Women Interest Books". The Black Scholar. 16 (2): 50. 1985. ISSN 0006-4246.
  15. ^ McClodden, Tiona (2008-04-13), "Black./Womyn.:Conversations with Lesbians of African Descent", IMDb (Documentary), retrieved 2025-04-01
  16. ^ Gibson, Gloria J.; Walker (1999). "Identities Unmasked/Empowerment Unleashed: The Documentary Style of Michelle Parkerson". In Waldman, Diane; Walker, Janet (eds.). Feminism and Documentary. U of Minnesota Press. p. 138. ISBN 9780816630073.
  17. ^ a b "...But Then, She's Betty Carter". Women Make Movies. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  18. ^ "... But Then, She's Betty Carter / Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  19. ^ a b "Storme: The Lady of the Jewel Box". Women Make Movies. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  20. ^ "A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde". BOMB Magazine. 1996-07-01. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  21. ^ a b "Odds and Ends". Third World Newsreel. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  22. ^ "Parkerson, Michelle". African Film Festival, Inc. Retrieved 2025-04-01.
  23. ^ Prakash, Snigdha (1991-02-24). "'Urban Odyssey'". The Washington Post.
  24. ^ Harrington, Richard (1983-02-23). "New Struggles In Sweet Harmony". The Washington Post.
  25. ^ "A Litany For Survival". POV. PBS.
  26. ^ "A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde (1995) - Awards". IMDb.
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