Directed by Ayoka Chenzira
11 Episodes
Working across narrative, documentary, animation, experimental, and interactive cinema, Ayoka Chenzira brings the inner worlds of Black women—their hopes, dreams, anxieties, and struggles—to life with heart, humor, and insight. An all-around creative force, she made her mark as an animator with acclaimed shorts like HAIR PIECE: A FILM FOR NAPPY HEADED PEOPLE, a sly commentary on Eurocentric beauty standards, and the inventive dance film ZAJOTA AND THE BOOGIE SPIRIT, before directing the feature ALMA’S RAINBOW, an exuberant coming-of-age tale that has taken its place as a touchstone of 1990s Black independent cinema. Continuing to push boundaries with the interactive science-fiction fantasy HERADVENTURE, Chenzira remains an innovator whose work has blazed a trail for Black women to tell their own stories on-screen.
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56:43Episode 1MOTV (My Own TV)
Episode 1
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1993 • United States
Starring Lawrence Anderson, Kaci M. Fannin, Debbie Blackwell-CookMOTV (MY OWN TV) tells the story of Jamaican immigrant Ishmael (Lawrence Anderson) and his African American wife Elmina (Kaci M. Fannin), both Brooklyn residents, who go in search ...
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1:29:23Episode 2Alma’s Rainbow
Episode 2
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1994 • United States
Starring Kim Weston-Moran, Victoria Gabrielle Platt, Mizan NunesA rediscovered treasure of independent cinema, this incisive comedic drama follows Rainbow Gold (Victoria Gabrielle Platt), a teenager coming of age in Brooklyn, as she looks to two...
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22:15Episode 3Syvilla: They Dance to Her Drum
Episode 3
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1979 • United States
Starring Syvilla Fort, Ayoka ChenziraThis tribute to innovative dancer-choreographer Syvilla Fort sheds light on a pioneering Black woman artist who influenced a generation of dancers.
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Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy Headed People
Episode 4
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1984 • United States
Starring Carol Jean LewisThis brash, inventive cartoon musical—a landmark of independent animation—satirizes Eurocentric beauty standards while celebrating the natural beauty of Black hair.
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14:56Episode 5The Lure and the Lore
Episode 5
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1988 • United States
Starring Thomas PinnockDancer Thomas Pinnock draws inspiration from the folklore of his native Jamaica and from his experiences as an immigrant in New York.
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18:46Episode 6Zajota and the Boogie Spirit
Episode 6
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1989 • United States
Starring Carol Jean LewisThrough an innovative use of mixed media and animation, Ayoka Chenzira traces the history of colonialism and the trans-Atlantic slave trade and calls audiences to consider how ancestral spirits continue to awaken and ins...
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Pull Your Head to the Moon: Stories of Creole Women
Episode 7
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1992 • United States
Starring Aziza, Sondra Loring, Renee Redding-JonesDirectors Ayoka Chenzira and David Rousseve poetically entwine two tales of generational trauma as a young gay man expounds on his experience of the AIDS epidemic while his grandmother reflects o...
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16:00Episode 8Williamswood
Episode 8
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1992 • Austria, United States
Starring Lawine Torren, Eva Forstenlechner, Christoph EichingerAn experimental short explores mechanization and the human form.
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21:15Episode 10In the Rivers of Mercy Angst
Episode 10
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira • 1997 • United States
Starring Dilma, Thomas Pinnock, Olga M. CampbellIn this magical-realist tale, a woman fights to free herself from a malevolent spirit known as the Keeper of Memory.
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30:58Episode 11HERadventure
Episode 11
Directed by Ayoka Chenzira and HaJ • 2014 • United States
Starring Haj Chenzira Pinnock, Betty Hart, Joy BrunsonConceived as an innovative blend of narrative filmmaking and interactive gameplay, this science-fiction coming-of-age story follows the journey of HER, a reluctant female warrior-in-t...
