Backgrounder

The Women Behind Black Lily

PHILADELPHIA, May 4, 2007 - “For women, by women.” Although not the official theme of the 1^st annual Black Lily Film & Music Festival scheduled for May 4-6, 2007, this credo is the driving force behind it. Designed to “increase awareness of the value and variety of women’s roles within both filmmaking and music,” the Black Lily festival has exemplified its ideals from the very beginning. With three dynamic female founders and a steering committee comprising 11 women from diverse ethnic and artistic backgrounds, Black Lily is true to its founding principles.

Photo courtesy of Hannan Saleh

 

The Pursuit Of An Ideal:
The vision for the festival began with Maori Karmael Holmes, a 29-year-old African-American who lives in Philadelphia’s artsy Northern Liberties section. Throughout her career as a filmmaker, Holmes has found herself troubled by the unique challenges encountered by female artists struggling to break through. For example, as she tells it, women have a harder time getting their films into mainstream festivals because many programmers are men. She says, “Films about rape or motherhood may not get into mainstream festivals, but when they screen at niche festivals, the audience is in tears. There’s a disconnect between what women want and what they’re getting and less of a chance for female filmmakers to get noticed.”

So in early 2006, Holmes approached Tracey Moore and Mercedes Martinez, the musical duo known as the Jazzyfatnastees and the founders of Black Lily, to sell them on her dream of establishing a women’s film festival. But because Holmes was the one doing the asking, no tough sell was necessary. Widely recognized as someone who can get things done, the women she solicited for support were eager to join her team. For co-artistic director Moore, the timing was perfect. “I wanted to get more into producing some film stuff,” she says. “We get this invitation from this filmmaker and it was like, ‘Oh my God, yeah. This is exactly what the universe is laying before us.’” Quickly, Holmes gathered an eclectic and talented crew of female volunteers who would spend the next year bringing the festival to life.

Holmes intentionally picked women who could enhance the project with their varied perspectives. Of the 14 mostly Philly-based volunteers on the steering committee, five are African-American, four are white, two are Asian and the rest are South Asian, Middle Eastern, African and Latina. The women are students, activists, attorneys, illustrators, filmmakers, musicians, authors, professors, DJs, yoga instructors and dancers. In working together to create an event that provides for networking opportunities and the exchange of ideas between women in the creative arts, the volunteers themselves are thriving from exposure to one another.

Working Together:
“I’m used to working with a certain type of community,” says steering committee volunteer Kavita Rajanna, a 31-year-old South Asian Philadelphian who works at a foundation that awards grants to female and transgender artists who facilitate social change. “But the women of Black Lily are all over the place with their politics and experiences. They differ in what brought them to Black Lily, like some want to support women artists or they love film and music.” Although Rajanna admits that figuring out how to blend such diverse approaches took “some getting used to,” she says that because the women are “easy-going, passionate folks,” they’ve worked it out nicely. “We’ve all worked together really well despite our different working styles. We mesh well, which is really easy when you have an end goal of making the festival happen.”

And it’s that end goal that compels 14 women from divergent backgrounds to come together and find their common ground—ultimately their philosophical paths intertwine and lead to the same destination, even when they start from different places. For example, Rajanna agreed to participate because the intersection of art and social change excites her and she seeks opportunities to free the voices of underground artists, whom she says are often working for social justice. Moore enthusiastically gave Maori the Black Lily name and threw herself into negotiating logistics for performers in part because she had been searching for ways to nurture the careers of young girls who aspire to become musicians. With its broad offering of female-oriented workshops, receptions, concerts and film screenings, the Black Lily Film & Music Festival aims to achieve these goals and more. As program coordinator Bernadine Mellis puts it, “We’re all searching for platforms to participate in artistic and public forums, so we want to support others to have that opportunity. We’re not competing with each other and with other women. When one of us succeeds, it brings more opportunities to everyone.”   

Dedication:
The enormous number of labor hours it takes to stage a film festival can be daunting to a cadre of busy professional women. But they’ve discovered that their respect for one another and their passion for their shared vision inspires them to take on all the work that’s required. For instance, Mellis, a Jewish lesbian from North Philadelphia, originally volunteered to serve as a member of the program committee, then became program director once she realized that “either I was going to do it or Maori was going to do it…Maori has a full-time job, she can’t do it all.” Mellis, an adjunct film professor at Villanova and Temple universities, spent months watching films to select the best ones. She appreciatively remembers that the volunteer who hosted the first screening meeting had somehow made time in her chaotic schedule to cook dinner and create a fun atmosphere for her guests. This incident left a lasting impression on Mellis: “When you see other people giving a lot, it inspired me to step up, too…I know people have tons going on but everyone’s bringing so much professionalism and enthusiasm. I saw that kind of spirit and creativity and energy.”

Holmes, who’s likely experienced that herself as an award-winning filmmaker, typifies this dedicated spirit. Despite spending approximately 30 hours a week as the festival’s executive director, she began a demanding job as the marketing director for the Painted Bride Art Center in November 2006. Plus, she has a husband, teaches an undergraduate film analysis class and still juggles some residual duties for her music video, which airs on BET. When does she find the time? Every weekend and every night after returning home from work, from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. But instead of griping, Holmes credits her volunteers for “being wonderful” and calls her schedule “joyously overwhelming.”

Some, like half-Spanish, half-Cuban co-artistic director Mercedes Martinez, also juggle the work/family balance. Martinez runs a recording artist and producer management agency, and she also has an autistic four-year-old son. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have some effect on my creativity,” she says of mothering an autistic child. “A lot of times I just don’t have the energy, emotional or otherwise, to devote to anything else, even music.” Yet she still finds spare time to work on a new album, write for blogs and help lead organization of the festival.

When it comes to planning the Black Lily Film & Music Festival, the women on the steering committee supply much of that support, sometimes sacrificing their own desire to infuse a little tranquility into their busy lives in order to help re-energize one another in times of need. “Everyone is doing a lot to make it fun and to take care of each other,” concludes Mellis. “Whenever we can, we give as much as we can.”

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