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Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth

A film by Pratibha Parmar

2013 | 84 minutes | Color | Order No. 151163

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SYNOPSIS

ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH tells the compelling story of an extraordinary woman. Alice Walker made history as the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her groundbreaking novel, The Color Purple. Her early life unfolded in the midst of violent racism and poverty during some of the most turbulent years of profound social and political changes in North American history during the Civil Rights Movement. Mixing powerful archival footage with moving testimonials from friends and colleagues such as Howard Zinn, Angela Y. Davis, Gloria Steinem, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Quincy Jones, Steven Spielberg and Danny Glover, ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH offers audiences a penetrating look at the life and art of an artist, intellectual, self-confessed renegade and human rights activist.

PRESS

"...a much needed contribution to the slow but ever growing archive of African-American women who have indelibly shaped our discourses of race, gender, sexuality, class, and oppressive regimes of power."

Afterellen.com

"An intimate, exquisitely rendered portrait of one of the great artists of our time."

Ava DuVernay Filmmaker & Founder of AAFRM

"Parmar has given us all an opportunity to gain both understanding and encouragement from one of humanism’s great exemplars."

TheHumanist.com

"Alice Walker is one of the great thinkers of our time, and has changed the lives of so many women with her ideas - this rich and honest film tells a story that we all need to hear."

Jude Kelly (OBE), Artistic Director, Southbank Centre UK

" The ultimate impression left by Pratibha Parmar’s eloquent film is of a courageous life full of risk but full of joy too."

Time Out London **** (4 star review)

"...inspiring and informative… Parmar presents audiences with a detailed landscape of the “beauty” and “truth” of Walker’s life"

AfterEllen.com

"A compelling and inspirational documentary."

Outfest 2013

"Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth is a dazzling, courageous portrait of the extraordinary life of a living legend. "

Carol Coombes Qfest

"Parmar's film masterfully presents Alice Walker's revolutionary story as integral to American history."

Heidi Hutner

“Pratibha Parmar’s documentary on the life’s work of Alice Walker is the director’s invitation to exalt with connected, layered complexity the artist, the activist, the woman, the person of colour as cultural icon..."

Indiewire

"...a perfect piece of filmmaking. Worthy of the sold-out screening and standing ovations it received."

The Huffington Post

"...attractively made doc will delight those who are passionate about Walker..."

The Hollywood Reporter

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • Napa Valley Film Festival, Jury Prize for Best Documentary
  • Qfest Philadelphia, Jury Prize for Best Documentary
  • QReel, Audience Award for Best Documentary
  • African Diaspora Int’l Film Festival, Public Award for Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color
  • Vancouver International Film Festival
  • Cleveland International Film Festival
  • Seattle International Film Festival
  • Melbourne Queer Film Festival
  • Athena Film Festival
  • International Women’s Film Festival Seoul
  • Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival
  • River Run International Film Festival
  • Mardi Gras Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Pratibha Parmar

Pratibha Parmar is an award-winning British filmmaker – a writer, director and producer with a track record of bringing deeply compelling stories into the mainstream media, stories that resonate beyond the margins. She has worked across multiple genres – feature documentaries, short dramas, music videos, a narrative feature, and is a recent director of episodic television, LAW & ORDER SUV and Ava DuVernay’s QUEEN SUGAR. Her work has appeared in a variety of broadcast and theatrical platforms.

Pratibha’s documentary A PLACE OF RAGE, on African American women and the civil rights movement, which focused on June Jordan and Angela Davis, received international critical acclaim and was named Best Historical Documentary at the National Black Programming Consortium in the US. Her other documentaries include the award-winning KHUSH, the first film to document the lives and experiences of South Asian lesbian and gay people in UK, Canada and India. KHUSH was the recipient of multiple international awards and became a cult classic in India where bootlegged copies created community screenings and opportunities for Indian LGBT people at a time when homosexuality was still illegal in India. Pratibha’s debut narrative feature, NINA’S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS, a rom-com set in Scotland, was released in the UK and US. Her documentary ALICE WALKER: BEAUTY IN TRUTH is the definitive film on this Pulitzer Prize-winning author and was broadcast on American Masters (PBS) and BBC.

A globally recognized filmmaker and human rights activist, Pratibha Parmar's films WARRIOR MARKS and KHUSH helped gain much-needed rights for women and girls as well as contributing to the visibility of marginalized LGBT communities. Her accomplishments have been recognized with multiple awards. In 2017, Pratibha was awarded the ICON award presented by Bagari London Indian Film Festival in Association with the British Film Institute for Outstanding Contribution to Indian and World Cinema. In 2016 she was included in the BBC’s list of 100 inspirational and influential women. Pratibha was awarded the Pink Peacock Award in recognition of exemplary Service to the South Asian Queer Community. She is the proud recipient of the Frameline Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award (US), presented to an individual who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to lesbian and gay media. Pratibha is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America. (2/24)

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