Kathleen Collins's 'Losing Ground' (1982)
Her Head in FilmsMay 21, 202401:44:41

Kathleen Collins's 'Losing Ground' (1982)

For decades, the work of Kathleen Collins languished in obscurity. She was a writer, filmmaker, and professor who is considered one of the first black women to direct a feature-length film. That film is 'Losing Ground,' an extraordinary portrait of a marriage in turmoil and a complex representation of a deeply intellectual woman in search of ecstasy and magic. In this episode, I explore Collins's life, discuss the barriers that have made it difficult for black women to make films both in the past and today, and I provide an in-depth analysis of 'Losing Ground.'



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Original artwork by Dhiyanah Hassan (https://www.bydhiyanah.com/)



Show Notes:




• Listen to more episodes from my debut feature films by women directors series: Unrelated (https://herheadinfilms.simplecast.fm/d03fc0a3) and A Brand New Life (https://herheadinfilms.simplecast.fm/446e8c98)


• Watch 'Losing Ground' on Filmstruck until July 2018 (https://www.filmstruck.com/us/watch/detail/1300009212#!)


• Listen to my episode on Barbara Loden's 'Wanda' (https://herheadinfilms.simplecast.fm/9b97e5ea)


• Listen to my episode about Larisa Shepitko (https://herheadinfilms.simplecast.fm/4fb17371)


• Read Sight and Sound magazine's article on 'Losing Ground' (http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/making-ground-remembering-kathleen-collins)


• Read Nina Collins's essay in Vogue Magazine (http://www.vogue.com/13471816/kathleen-collins-filmmaker-career-daughter-nina-lorez-collins/)


• DVD of 'Losing Ground' on the Milestone Films website (https://milestonefilms.com/products/losing-ground)


• Flicker Alley's Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology (https://www.flickeralley.com/classic-movies/#!/Early-Women-Filmmakers-An-International-Anthology/p/80085513/category=20414531)


• More information about Lincoln Center's "Tell It Like It Is: Black Independents in New York, 1968 – 1986 (https://www.filmlinc.org/series/tell-it-like-it-is-black-independents-in-new-york-1968-1986/#films) "


• Kathleen Collins's short story collection, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? (https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062484161/whatever-happened-to-interracial-love)


• Jeff Nichols's 2016 film, 'Loving (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4669986/) '


• Nancy Buirski's 2011 documentary, 'The Loving Story' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1759682/?ref_=nv_sr_1)


• More information on Alice Guy-Blache (https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-alice-guy-blache/)


• More on Lois Weber (https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-lois-weber/)


• More on Frances Marion (https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-frances-marion/)


• Article on women who hand-tinted silent films (http://nautil.us/issue/26/Color/the-phantasmagoria-of-the-first-hand_painted-films)


• Watch 'Birth of a Movement' on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/title/80991252)


• Listen to my episode on Abbas Kiarostami's 'Taste of Cherry' (https://herheadinfilms.simplecast.fm/9469cb6e)


• Listen to my episode on Barry Jenkins's 'Moonlight' (https://herheadinfilms.simplecast.fm/835f578f)


• Listen to my episode on Jennie Livingston's 'Paris is Burning (https://herheadinfilms.simplecast.fm/80b570ed) '


• Diego Echeverria's 1984 documentary, 'Los Sures' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5468886/)


• Read Angelica Jade Bastien's review of 'Losing Ground' (http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/losing-ground-is-an-underrated-entry-in-the-black-film-canon.html)


• Read Richard Brody's review of 'Losing Ground (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/lost-found) '