Since 2003, the Digital Moving Image Salon, founded by pioneer, award-winning filmmaker Ayoka Chenzira, Ph.D., taught documentary filmmaking to Spelman students across disciplines. In 2017, the success of the program led to a documentary filmmaking major now located in the Department of Art & Visual Culture.
DMIS continues to bring guest filmmakers to campus, supports an annual student documentary film showcase, and engages in community partnerships for film related events.
The films screened during the Student Documentary Film Showcase are the culminating projects of students who participate in the Digital Moving Image Salon. Their works are the result of a yearlong course where they learn to produce documentaries and various research projects that explore interactive cinema.
“Producing documentary films, particularly those that focus on the lived experiences of women, allows our students to think critically, think visually and to participate in the national and international dialogues that occur around issues of social justice for women and girls,” said Dr. Chenzira.
Documentary topic: Rethinking Atlanta’s West End neighborhood through the eyes women-owned businesses. Producers: Olivia LaFlamme, C'2014, Britny Horton, C'2014, Jemoi Higgins, C'2014
Atlanta's historic West End neighborhood struggles with many of the challenges facing urban cities and yet through the eyes of women who own businesses there, we see new possibilities and a sense of hope among its inhabitants.