Roxana Walker-Canton  

Roxana Walker-Canton is an award-winning independent documentary-maker and video installation artist. She earned her B.A. from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA, an M.A./M.F.A. in Black Studies and English/Creative Writing from The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, and an M.F.A. in Film and Media Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She is the director of The Living Thinkers Project and served as the producer/director/co-editor of Living Thinkers: An Autobiography of Black Women in the Ivory Tower, the documentary, which won the Audience Choice Award for Documentary at the 2013 BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia and was a finalist for the HBO Award for Documentary at the 2013 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. She installed Living Thinkers - Harriet Jacobs' Attic and Living Thinkers - Harriet Jacobs' Attic 2, two video installations connecting contemporary Black women's education narratives to the 19th century slave narrative written by Harriet Jacobs. Her last documentary about post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans titled Belly of the Basin won First Place for Documentary at the Hollywood Black Filmmakers Festival 2008 and screened at numerous festivals and universities across the country. She has received numerous grants and has presented her work nationally and internationally at festivals, conferences and universities. She teaches Documentary Production, Screenwriting and African American Cinema. She is married to history professor David A. Canton and has three children, Imani, Kefentse, and Montsho. (5/14)