Filmmaker Kristin Alexander has a great eye and she knows how to pull together short films. She’s done it many times through her company Middleway Media. Earlier this year, I spoke with her about her then just completed film Healing History, which offers a 20-minute portrait of activist and educator Mwalimu Melodye Micere Van Putten. The film has screened in the PanAfrican Film Festival in Cannes and at the Bermuda International Film Festival (where it’s subject lives), Charlotte Black Film Festival, and in Cameroon and St Louis, MO, as part of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival. It is screening for one night only at 7 p.m. as part of the annual Woods Hole Film Festival.
Van Putten believes that it is essential to teach young black children around the world about their shared African heritage and also to offer them tools for successful living with her Ashaya Objectives, which include four statements, including “I am valuable and have genius,””My history and culture are sources of knowledge with lessons to be learned,” “I must develop my character to succeed,” and “The world is waiting for me to contribute my gifts and talents.” In Healing History, Alexander gives us an overall portrait of a woman with great wisdom to impart, who is working to undo some of the tragic circumstances of the past. The film is very much a collabroation between Alexander (who is white) and her subject and as such provides a wonderful example of how documentarians can work with their subjects while still maintaining a clear artistic vision for their projects.
Tonight’s screening is sold out, but if you are interested in seeing the film or arranging a screening, please contact kristin@middlewaymedia.com.
The Cape Cod Film Society 