Naked Acts Screening
a film by Bridgett M. Davis
part of the whatstheirface Film Club
meeting 004 w/ guest Genevieve Radosti
1996, 87 minutes
Free to the public. RSVP encouraged due to limited seating.
Doors open at 6:30pm - Showtime at 7pm.
Projecting Genre Programmer and Co-Founder Genevieve Radosti guest programs a screening of Bridgett M. Davis' Naked Acts.
During the American indie filmmaking boom of the 1990s, filmmakers from all walks of life found new ways to tell their stories. Yet only a handful of those voices entered the canon, and even fewer reached the mainstream. The disappearance of writer-director Bridgett M. Davis' Naked Acts following its festival and theatrical run, and its eventual restoration and rediscovery more than two decades later, speaks to the systemic inequities that shape film history, and the importance of seeking out the stories that have been left behind.
Naked Acts is about a young, Black actress, Cece (Jake-Ann Jones), learning to honor and listen to her body as she prepares for a nude scene in a low-budget production. Davis’ film subtly navigates Cece’s fraught relationship with her mother–a former Blaxploitaiton star–and her internalized shame from childhood abuse. Viewers will be moved by the raw honesty of Naked Acts, with emotional moments both tender and piercing.
Beyond filmmaking, Bridgett M. Davis is also an acclaimed author. Be sure to check out her memoir, The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers, available through the Omaha Public Library. She is also currently crowdfunding her first narrative feature in more than 30 years, Helga!