Cheryl Dunye facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cheryl Dunye
Dunye in 2016
Born	(1966-05-13) May 13, 1966 (age 57) Liberia
Alma mater	Temple University (BA) Rutgers University (MFA)
Occupation	Filmmaker actress
Years active	1990–present
Children	2
Awards	1995: Media Production Award; National Endowment for the Arts etc

Cheryl Dunye (/duːnˈjeɪ/; born May 13, 1966) is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye's work often concerns themes of race and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians. She is known as the first out black lesbian to ever direct a feature film with her 1996 film The Watermelon Woman. She runs the production company Jingletown Films based in Oakland, California.

Early life

Dunye was born in Monrovia, Liberia and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She first attended Michigan State University where she was in the political theory program due to her desire to make a change and have an impact on the world.

When she realized she could use media as a tool in her political activism, she ended up in the filmmaking program at Temple University in Philadelphia. She received her BA from Temple and her MFA from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of Art. While at Temple University, Dunye made her first ever video project for her senior thesis which was a montage of images of things like newspapers that she had recorded and played over a reading of a poem by Sapphire called "Wild Thing."

Career

Academics

She has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, UC Santa Cruz, Pitzer College, Claremont Graduate University, Pomona College, California Institute of the Arts, The New School of Social Research, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and San Francisco State University.

The Early Works of Cheryl Dunye

Dunye began her career with six short films which have been collected on DVD as The Early Works of Cheryl Dunye. Most of these videos feature the use of mixed media, a blurring of fact and fiction and explored issues relating to the director's experience as a black lesbian filmmaker. These films are early examples of "Dunyementaries," a blend of narrative and documentary techniques that Dunye describes as "a mix of film, video, friends, and a lot of heart." These works, spanning from 1990 to 1994, explore themes of race, family, relationships and whiteness. Dunye's early works were produced with a low budget and often starred Dunye herself as lead actress.

The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Dunye presenting The Watermelon Woman at Radar Reading Series at the San Francisco Public Library (2016)

Her feature film debut was The Watermelon Woman (1996), an exploration of the history of black women and lesbians in film. "[It] has earned a place in cinematic history as the first feature-length narrative film written and directed by out black lesbian about black lesbians." In 1993 Dunye was doing research for a class on black film history, by looking for information on black actresses in early films. Many times the credits for these women were left out of the film. Frustrated by a lack in the archives, Dunye created a fictional character, Fae Richards, and constructed an archive for that character. Thus, Dunye utilized fiction and the arts to address gaps she noted in official records. Dunye decided that she was going to use her work to create a story for black women in early films. The film's title is a play on the Melvin Van Peebles's film The Watermelon Man (1970). Dunye then used the creative archival material to curate events to raise funds and show progress to donors.

In the film, the protagonist Cheryl, played by the director, is an aspiring black lesbian filmmaker attempting to bring about the history of black lesbians in cinematic history while attempting to produce her own work because "our stories have never been told." Cheryl the protagonist becomes fascinated by an actress she finds in a movie called Plantation Memories and decides she wants to learn everything there is to know about the actress listed only as "Watermelon Woman" in the credits of the film. The story explores the difficulty in navigating archival sources that either excludes or ignores black queer women working in Hollywood, particularly that of actress Fae Richards whose character bore the name that provides the title for the film.

In 2016, the film was restored and rereleased widely for its 20th anniversary and resides in the permanent cinema collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Other works

Taking a turn from self-written lesbian-focused films, she directed My Baby's Daddy starring Eddie Griffin, Michael Imperioli, and Anthony Anderson in 2004, although a character in the film turns out to be lesbian.

In 2010, Dunye's feature script Adventures in the 419, co-written with novelist Sarah Schulman, was selected as one of the works-in-progress films in the Tribeca All Access program during the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. The film is set in Amsterdam and is about 419 scams among the immigrant community. A television adaptation of the film is currently in the works.

Her romantic comedy Mommy is Coming was nominated for Best Feature Film at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival.

She has expressed interest in adapting some literary works from Octavia Butler and Audre Lorde.

Television

In 2017, Dunye had her TV directorial debut with Ava Duvernay's Queen Sugar "as part of Duvernay's initiative to create opportunities for female film directors to enter the field of Television." She directed two episodes in its second season and in 2019 she served as the Producing Director of season 4. Her other episodic directing credits include Claws (TNT), The Fosters (Freeform), Love Is (OWN), The Chi (Showtime), Star (FOX), Dear White People (Netflix), David Makes Man (OWN), All Rise (CBS), Delilah (OWN), Lovecraft Country (HBO), Y: The Last Man (FX), and The Umbrella Academy (Netflix). Her episode of Lovecraft Country "Strange Case" earned Dunye a 52nd NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series.

Influences

Dunye cites numerous influences that have contributed to her work including that of Chantal Akerman, Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Godard but notes that Jim McBride's David Holzman's Diary (1967) and Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep (1977) are some of the "most powerful" influences on her.

Her first video, Wild Thing, was an experimental adaptation of the live reading by the black lesbian author and poet Sapphire. Some of the other literary figures that Dunye recalls include Harriet Jacobs, Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde and Fannie Hurst. Notably she has remarked that her work often brings to mind, American experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer. In terms of style and documentary filmmaking, she says that some of the most influential films for her are the works of Michelle Parkerson including her documentary about Audre Lorde and her film Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box. For Stranger Inside, Dunye has said that both the adaptations and the novel Imitation of Life played a major part in the mood of the film.

Style

In Stranger Inside, Dunye mixes documentary and fiction, as some of the background actors were actual former inmates. The film was first conceived as a documentary feature, and it employs documentary techniques, but Dunye felt that a narrative approach would better suit the subject matter.

Personal life

Dunye is a lesbian. She has two children. As of 2012, she resides with her spouse in Oakland, California. In 2018, Dunye created her production company, Jingletown Films, named after the neighborhood of Jingletown in Oakland that she once lived in. According to the company's website, its goal is to provide a platform for storytellers and filmmakers that are people of color and/or queer and to be a space for diverse artists to thrive and have their voices heard.

Selected filmography

Director

• Janine (1990)
  • 10 minutes, Videotape, Experimental Documentary
• She Don't Fade (1991)
  • 24 minutes, Videotape, Experimental Documentary
• An Untitled Portrait (1993)
  • 3.5 minute, Videotape, Video Montage
• The Potluck and the Passion (1993)
  • 22 minute, Videotape, Experimental Narrative
• Greetings from Africa (1994)
  • 8 minutes, 16mm, b&w, color, sound
• The Watermelon Woman (1996)
  • 85 minutes, color, Narrative Feature
• Stranger Inside (2001) (TV)
  • 97 minutes, TV movie
• My Baby's Daddy (2004)
  • 86 minutes, Narrative Feature
• The Owls (2010)
  • 66 minutes, Thriller
• Mommy is Coming (2012)
  • 64 minutes, Romantic Comedy
• Black Is Blue (2014)
  • 21 minutes, Short
• Queen Sugar (2017–19) (TV)
  • "To Usward" (S2)
  • "Fruit of the Flower" (S2)
  • "Pleasure is Black" (S4)
  • "Oh Mamere" (S4)
• The Fosters (2018) (TV)
  • "Line in the Sand" (S5)
• Claws (2018–21) (TV)
  • "Russian Navy" (S2)
  • "Chapter Two: Vengeance" (S4)
• Love Is (2018) (TV)
  • "(His) Answers" (S1)
• Star (2018) (TV)
  • "All Falls Down" (S3)
• The Chi (2019) (TV)
  • "A Leg Up" (S2)
• The Village (2019) (TV)
  • "I Have Got You" (S1)
• Dear White People (2019) (TV)
  • "Volume 3: Chapter V" (S3)
• David Makes Man (2019) (TV)
  • "Bubble House" (S1)
  • "Some I Love Who Are Dead" (S1)
  • "3 Sons' Sky" (S1)
• Sacred Lies (2020) (TV)
  • "Chapter Nine: Bloodline" (S2)
  • "Chapter Ten: With the Dancing Lions" (S2)
• Lovecraft Country (2020) (TV)
  • "Strange Case" (S1)
• All Rise (2019–21) (TV)
  • "How to Succeed in Law Without Really Re-Trying" (S1)
  • "Merrily We Ride Along" (S1)
  • "Bette Davis Eyes" (S2)
• Delliah (2021) (TV)
  • "Everything to Everybody" (S1)
  • "Toldja" (S1)
• Pride (2021) (TV)
  • "1970s: The Vanguard of Struggle" (S1)
• Y: The Last Man (2021) (TV)
  • "Peppers" (S1)
• Bridgerton (2022) (TV)
  • "Harmony" (S2)
  • "The Viscount Who Loved Me" (S2)
• The Umbrella Academy (2022) (TV)
  • "World’s Biggest Ball of Twine" (S3)
  • "Pocket Full of Lightning" (S3)
• The Rookie: Feds (2022) (TV)
  • "The Reaper" (S1)
• The Equalizer (2022) (TV)
  • "Blowback" (S3)

Actress

• She Don't Fade (1991) "Shae Clark"
• The Watermelon Woman (1996) "Cheryl"
• The New Women (2000) "Phaedra"
• The Owls (2010) "Carol"
• Mommy is Coming (2012) "Cabby"
• Dropping Penny (2018) "Alpha Donna"

Editor

• She Don't Fade (1991)
• The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Writer

• She Don't Fade (1991)
• The Watermelon Woman (1996)
• Stranger Inside (2001)
• Turnaround (2002)
• The Owls (2010)
• Mommy is Coming (2012)
• Black is Blue (2014)
• Brother from Another Time (2014)

Awards

• 1991: Fine Cut Winner Independent Images: TV 12 WHYY Inc.
• 1995: Artist Mentor Residency Award Film Video Arts Inc.
• 1995: Media Production Award; National Endowment for the Arts
• 1995: Vito Russo Filmmaker Award; New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival
• 1995: Ursula Award; Hamburg Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
• 1996: Audience Award at LA Outfest for Outstanding narrative feature - The Watermelon Woman
• 1996: Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for Best feature film - The Watermelon Woman
• 1996: Audience Award Créteil International Women's Film Festival
• 1996: Audience Award; Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
• 1997: Biennial Anonymous Was A Woman Award; Whitney Museum of American Art
• 1998: The Rockefeller Foundation Award; The Rockefeller Foundation
• 2000: Best Director Award; Girlfriends
• 2001: Audience Award at LA Outfest
• 2001: Audience Award from the Philadelphia Film Festival, and the Audience Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival.
• 2001: Special Jury Award from the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival - Stranger Inside
• 2001: Audience Award for best narrative feature - Stranger Inside
• 2002: Audience Award and Special Mention at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival for Stranger Inside
• 2002: London International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival; Best Feature Award
• 2002: Lifetime Achievement Award Girlfriends
• 2004: Community Vision Award; National Center for Lesbian Rights
• 2016: The Guggenheim Fellowship Award; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
• 2020: Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series; Black Reel Awards for Television - Dear White People
• 2022: Cinema Eye Legacy Award - The Watermelon Woman

See also

In Spanish: Cheryl Dunye para niños

• List of female film and television directors
• List of lesbian filmmakers
• List of LGBT films directed by women