A philosopherfilmmaker, kathleen collins decisively redefined the parameters of african american film with the cruz brothers and miss malloy 1980 and losing ground 1982. Now a new book has arrived, notes from a black womans diary, a grab. Artist bill gunn is married to philosophy professor seret scott. Losing ground meditates on art as it examines a marriage in. Kathleen collins sadly died at the age of 46, never seeing her own work published. Kathleen collins made the feature film, losing ground, in 1982, and died a few years later at age 46 from breast cancer. Seret scott, bill gunn, duane jones, kathleen collins. Kathleen collinss notes from a black womans diary contains an. Kathleen collins, who died in 1988 at age fortysix, was an africanamerican playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, and educator from jersey city. Losing ground is a semiautobiographical 1982 film written and directed by kathleen collins starring seret scott, bill gunn, and duane jones. Bonus features commentary track by professors lamonda horton stallings and terri francis 2015 theatrical trailer the cruz brothers and miss malloy 1980, 50 mins, color kathleen collins and ronald gray s first film video interviews with ronald k.
The film, in which a painter bill gunn and philosophy professor seret scott retreat upstate to alternately tend. Losing ground now looks and sounds as fresh, bracing and complex as it did when it was first filmed. Nearly 30 years after her passing comes whatever happened to interracial love. Finding her artist husband away from their upstate ny summer studio, professor sara seret scott fends off a student filmmaker, then locates victor bill gunn who has, it turns out, been painting a puerto rican model maritza rivera, in director kathleen collins losing. It is a testament to kathleen collins incredible talent and a lasting treasure of african american and womens cinema. Kathleen collins march 18, 1942 september 18, 1988 also known as kathleen conwell, kathleen conwell collins or kathleen collins prettyman was an africanamerican poet, playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, civil rights activist, and educator from jersey city, new jersey. Realm walker an estranged mate, a mangled body and a powerful demon who calls her by name as a realm walker for the agency, juliana norris tracks deadly paranormal quarry using her unique ability to see magical signatures.
What happened to kathleen collins the village voice. Losing ground is a semiautobiographical 1982 film written and directed by kathleen collins. Scott of the new york times and richard brody of the new yorker. Kathleen collinss whatever happened to interracial love. Kathleen collins kathleen collins biography poem hunter. She was the first black woman to produce a feature length film. Her most known work is the film losing ground, followed perhaps by two plays, in the midnight hour, and the brothers. Kathleen collinss ecstatic selfdiscovery yasmina price the new. Barely released in 1982 and all but unseen for over three decades, kathleen collinss losing ground is a lively movie as well as a ghostly one. Dec, 2016 stories by kathleen collins ecco published december 6, 2016. Collins was an awardwinning playwright and filmmaker who died in 1988 from breast cancer, at the age of 46. Apr 17, 2016 barely released in 1982 and all but unseen for over three decades, kathleen collinss losing ground is a lively movie as well as a ghostly one. Kathleen collinss losing ground is an underrated entry in. Kathleen collins was a brilliant, highly talented professor of film.
This foreword is titled in search of kathleen collins, yet ms. Kathleen collins mustsee restoredremastered losing ground hits bluraydvd in 2disc deluxe set 19 march 2016 shadowandact. While collins was able to sell losing ground to six countries in europe, it was never sold in the united states. Buy a print copy access the digital edition subscribe. Kathleen collins was a pioneer african american playwright, filmmaker, civil rights activist, film editor, and educator. In 2015, her film losing ground, which had shown at festivals in 1982. Collins was one of the first african american women to direct a. Unfortunately, she directed only this one commercial film, and tragically, she died when she was just 46 years old. Before she died in 1988 at 46, kathleen collins was a trailblazing activist, playwright, and filmmaker. Jan 30, 2015 the film that opens the series, kathleen collinss losing ground, from 1982, will play for a week, making up for the fact that it has never had a theatrical release. Although it never played outside the film festival circuit during her lifetime director kathleen collins died in 1988 at the age of 46 and was mostly overlooked when it was first released, losing ground was later rediscovered by critics such as a. Losing ground, written and directed by kathleen collins, centers on the experiences of sara seret scott, a university professor whose artist husband victor bill gunn rents a country house for a month to. Remastering losing ground cost nearly as much as the amount it took to create it.
Kathleen collins has a magnificent ear for dialogue whose humor felt light and natural, even when her intense subject wracks her narrators with pain. This is one revelation of saidiya hartmans book wayward lives, beautiful. Dec 02, 2016 kathleen collins douglas collins collins grew up in new jersey and graduated from skidmore college in 1963, when she was one of the only black students at the school. Kathleen collins author of whatever happened to interracial. It is the first featurelength drama directed by a black american woman since the 1920s and won first prize at the figueroa international film festival in portugal. Losing ground 1982 is one of the few independent films made in the 1980s by a black woman director.
Although the spritely comedy was a charming and beautifully crafted firsttime effort from an indie filmmaker, she was accused of deserting her africanamerican roots to tell the story of three puerto rican brothers scraping by while contending with the ghost of their dead father. It tells the story of sara rogers, a brilliant and beautiful black philosophy professor played by collinss close friend seret. Kathleen collins losing ground is a rare, revolutionary gem. This year, one of the festivals major draws is a rare screening of kathleen collins losing ground 1982 on march 30. D uring her lifetime, kathleen collins saw one of her screenplays become a movie losing ground 1982, which she also directedand one story. The new yorker called losing ground a masterwork, while the new york times said it was a bulletin from a vital and asyetunexplored dimension of realitya territory that director spike lee. I discovered kathleen collins when losing ground screened publicly for the first time, in the fall of 2015. It is a testament to kathleen collins incredible talent and a. Losing ground by kathleen collins gary bolling, bill gunn. Kathleen collinss ecstatic selfdiscovery yasmina price.
Lindy west and shrill dick dale morgan parker tommy. Collinss first film, the cruz brothers and miss malloy was a 50minute film based on the work of henry h. In 2015 a public space posthumously published collins short story interiors, a fictionalized account of her divorce from her first husband. Critics at the new yorker and the new york times raved, making note of the main characters physical beauty, the lush scenes of saturated colors filmed in the hudson river valley, and the palpably tense marriage depicted. Kathleen collinss lost masterwork, losing ground the new yorker. Mu and song of the andoumboulou are two ongoing sequences beaded with his insights on cosmology, grief. Stories by kathleen collins ecco published december 6, 2016. An estranged mate, a mangled body and a powerful demon who calls her by name as a realm walker for the agency, juliana norris tracks deadly paranormal quarry using her unique ability to see magical signatures. The film that opens the series, kathleen collinss losing ground, from 1982, will play for a week, making up for the fact that it has never had a theatrical release.
Kathleen collinss lost masterwork, losing ground the. Kathleen collins march 18 1942 september 18 1988 also known as kathleen conwell, kathleen conwell collins or kathleen collins prettyman was an africanamerican playwright, writer, filmmaker, director, and educator from jersey city, new jersey. Losing ground 1982 movie clip is this puerto rican. When kathleen collinss 1982 film losing ground was screened at new yorks film society of lincoln center in 2015, it immediately became inconceivable to me that film history might have been written without it. Losing ground, a film by kathleen collins home facebook. In losing ground, collins filmed the story of a professor of french philosophy at c. Collins s first film, the cruz brothers and miss malloy was a 50minute film based on the work of henry h. At the time of her death from cancer in 1988, kathleen collins was just 46 years old. In fact, it went unpublished for close to 30 years after her death, and this collection was only recently released, bringing together stories from her archives. Kathleen collins prettyman kathleen conwell collins prettyman edit did you know. A comedic drama, losing ground was one of the very first fictional features by an africanamerican woman filmmaker. Dec 02, 2016 pioneering black filmmaker kathleen collins, who died in 1988 at age 46, wrote this collection of vibrant short stories, published now for the first time. Kathleen collins march 18 1942 september 18 1988 also known as kathleen conwell, kathleen conwell collins or.
Her film losing ground is one of the first features made by a black woman in america, and is an extremely rare narrative portrayal of a black female intellectual. Kathleen collinss groundbreaking 1982 movie losing ground opens on a black female philosophy professor seret scott talking camus and sartre to a. Kathleen collinss 1982 feature losing ground, an overlooked gem about a black female philosophy lecturer forced to reassess her marriage to a philandering painter, explores issues of class, race and gender with humour and a welcome lightness of touch. The work of black women in american cinema has in fact always been less about canons than archivesprioritizing the recovery of such omissions in order to disrupt. She excels at her job, but her friends worry about her mysterious habit of dying in the line of duty without staying dead. The entirety of the book joins her collection of short stories, whatever. Kathleen collins losing ground, a classic africanamerican film about a black philosophy professor, sara and victor, her artist husband. Jun 20, 2017 remastering losing ground cost nearly as much as the amount it took to create it. She excels at her job, but her friends worry about her mysterious habit of dying in. She was the first black american woman to make and.
The kathleen collins revival continues with notes from a black. The 1982 film losing ground, written and directed by kathleen collins, was one of the first features by an american black woman. Kathleen collins losing ground is a rare, revolutionary gem vice. Kathleen collins prettyman kathleen conwell collins prettyman edit did you. Whats a criminally underseen film independent, adultthemed, brazenly honest, and the first featurelength drama directed by a black american woman since the 1920s kathleen collins groundbreaking dramedy losing ground has enjoyed a small resurgence this century as cinephiles rediscovered the remarkable 1982 picture which seemed lost to time. Losing ground meditates on art as it examines a marriage. This book uses detailed analyses of collinss films to contextualise her work in the african american, feminist and world film traditions, and it highlights her. Duane jones, kathleen collins, and seret scott on the set of losing ground. In losing ground, collins filmed the story of a professor of french. The 1982 film about the inner workings of black lives resists fetishization or. Despite her considerably hefty body of work, collins wasnt a.
Seret scott as sara in kathleen collinss losing ground, 1982. Kathleen collinss only film, losing ground never played outside of the festival circuit until long after she died from breast cancer in 1988. One of the first feature films directed by an african american woman, kathleen collinss losing ground tells the story of a marriage between two remarkable people, both at a crossroads in their lives. The film that opens the series, kathleen collinss losing ground, from. Nov 23, 2019 losing ground 1982, by the filmmaker, playwright, and novelist kathleen collins, is a particularly incandescent example of filmmaking as a process of defiant selfcreation. More than 30 years later, it gets a theatrical run in new york. Kathleen collinss lost masterwork, losing ground the new. The principle difference between this and other such films is that all the characters are africanamerican. Losing ground 1982, by the filmmaker, playwright, and novelist kathleen collins.
Miranda july named a best book of 2016 by vice, elle, nylon, publishers weekly and npr named one of the most anticipated books of the fall by the huffington post, new york, the boston globe, lit hub, and the millions. Kathleen collins is considered one of the first black woman to direct an american featurelength drama. The film, in which a painter bill gunn and philosophy professor seret scott retreat upstate to alternately tend and neglect their marriage and their work, is brainy, charming. Kathleen collins whatever happened to interracial love. D uring her lifetime, kathleen collins saw one of her screenplays become a movielosing ground 1982, which she also directedand one story and one play published. It was the release of the film losing ground, written and directed by kathleen in 1982, at a film festival at the lincoln center in manhattan in 2015 that brought her triumphantly into focus the. This book uses detailed analyses of collinss films to contextualise her work in the african american, feminist and world film traditions, and it highlights her contribution to each of these canons. Also collected here is the work collins wrote for the screen and stage. The writer and filmmaker kathleen collins died in 1988, at the age of 46.
Losing ground, a film by kathleen collins about facebook. Losing ground 1982, by the filmmaker, playwright, and novelist kathleen collins, is a particularly incandescent example of filmmaking as a process of defiant selfcreation. Jan 23, 2017 when kathleen collinss 1982 film losing ground was screened at new yorks film society of lincoln center in 2015, it immediately became inconceivable to me that film history might have been written without it. Losing ground is a amusing but standard menage a trois, set in a small college town. In an era when poetry is increasingly compressed to fit our iphone screens, nathaniel mackey has been writing two astonishing long poemsmu and song of the andoumboulouacross multiple books for the past thirtyfive years. Kathleen collins douglas collins collins grew up in new jersey and graduated from skidmore college in 1963, when she was one of the only black students at the school. Collins 1982 losing ground was restored and reissued in 2015.
The interior worlds of kathleen collinss fiction and film. Dec 01, 2016 kathleen collinss groundbreaking 1982 movie losing ground opens on a black female philosophy professor seret scott talking camus and sartre to a roomful of students. From the first page you know youre in the hands of an exceptional writer i adored this book. She was married twice, and had two children who she raised in piermont, new york.
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