Fanm on Films Ella Turenne and Martine Jean

In our season finale, we chat with writer, producer and journalist A’Lelia Bundles, great-great granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker. Bundles’ New York Times notable book On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker is the first full-scale biography of Madam Walker—the legendary Black entrepreneur and philanthropist. We talk about the legacy of Madam Walker, her thoughts about the Netflix series and Madam Walker’s connection to Haiti.







After a 30-year career as an executive and Emmy award winning producer with ABC News and NBC News, Bundles is now the brand historian for MCJW, a line of hair care products inspired by Madam Walker and created by Sundial Brands. She is a trustee of Columbia University and chair emerita of the National Archives Foundation. 







Bundles founded the Madam Walker Family Archives and is on the advisory boards of the March on Washington Film Festival, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute and the Smithsonian’s American Women’s History Initiative.







She is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and has participated in writing residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell.







Watch the trailer for Self Made below:

Jason Fitzroy Jeffers is a true Caribbean renaissance man. A filmmaker, journalist and music maker, his creative endeavors explore social issues as well as uplift Caribbean history and culture. We had a great time chatting with him about his impromptu journey learning Haitian machete fencing, the importance of Caribbean storytelling, and of course, slow jams and human connection in the time of a pandemic.







Jason’s journalism work has appeared in The Intercept, The Miami Herald and American Way Magazine. As a ghostwriter, he’s crafted text for two New York Times bestselling authors. As a filmmaker, he has produced award-winning short films such as “Papa Machete” which world premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and had its U.S. premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2015, and “T”, which won the Golden Bear at Berlinale 2020.As an arts administrator, Jason wears two hats: as Co-Executive Director of Third Horizon, a Caribbean filmmaking collective that produces the annual Third Horizon Film Festival; and as Cinematic Arts Senior Manager at Oolite Arts, one of Miami’s largest artist support organizations. Jason also launched a podcast series called Foggy Windows this past month. You can experience it here: Foggy Windows Radio.







Check out his short film “Papa Machete” below.









Papa Machete from Third Horizon on Vimeo.

We wanted to take some time to reflect on what’s been happening in our communities. We’re feeling a lot right now: pain, frustration, anger, outrage. Our country has been on fire over the past week. This is a turning point in American history.







We want to acknowledge all those who have lost their lives senselessly to police brutality. As Haitians, we are no strangers to the loss of life of our brothers and sisters at the hands of the police. We remember Abner Louima we barely survived with his life after being sodomized by the NYPD. Patrick Dorismond died at the hands of NYPD for no reason other than the fact that he was a Black man in America. Now we have Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and too many others.







Enough is enough. This has to stop. We call for the end of police brutality. We call for defunding of the police. We call for this country to value Black Lives. 







For our brothers and sisters, we call for justice. We call for healing. We call for the day when we can breathe and not have to worry about the repercussions of that simple human act.







If you want to know how you can get involved, we’ve included some resources below which you can access for your own knowledge building.







Stay safe, stay in the struggle. #BlackLivesMatter.







Resources







10 Films to Watch in Support of Black Liberation – Tambay Obenson







The Anti-Racist Starter Pack: 40 TV Series, Documentaries, Movies, TED Talks, and Books to Add to Your List – Brea Baker







Community Compiled Resource ListsList 1List 2







Anti-Racism Resources







Videos

We could not stop laughing with this week’s guest Michelle Buteau! Michelle has appeared on stand-up specials on Netflix and Comedy Central, as well as an album called “Shut Up!”, which was released on Comedy Central Records. Michelle shot the Netflix feature “Always Be My Maybe” with Ali Wong and Randall Park, and recently landed a leading role in the TV remake of “First Wives Club” for BET. Michelle is about to release a book called Survival of the Thickest and has her own comedy special being released later this year.







Check out a clip from First Wives Club below. You can catch the entire series on BET+.

This week we have a chat with filmmaker Guetty Felin. Her film, Ayiti Mon Amour, was Haiti’s first-ever Oscar-nominated film. Guetty is an award-winning independent filmmaker, teacher, and film curator. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in New York, she holds an MFA from the University of Paris School of Cinema. Throughout her career, she has worked on factual and narrative films for European and American television. She produced and co-curated the critically-acclaimed Haiti on Screen in 2004 to celebrate Haiti’s bicentennial. She also helped to launch Haiti’s Film Festival Jakmèl in 2004.







Check out the trailer below. You can watch the entire film on Amazon Prime.

This week we hosted our first live discussion and screening! We were joined by the creatives of the webseries “A Haitian’s Guide to Disappointing Your Parents. Joining us live was Micheal Drew (Creator and Actor), Karina Bonnefil (Actor) and Bechir Sylvain (Actor). Watch Episode 1 below and the rest of the series on YouTube.