Acclaimed filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris and his production company, Chimpanzee Productions, today announced the involvement of Oscar® nominated filmmaker John Singleton as Executive Producer for the documentary feature film THROUGH A LENS DARKLY: BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A PEOPLE.
The film, just coming off a successful world premiere at Sundance 2014 where sold out audiences were moved to ovations, is co- produced and inspired by Dr. Deborah Willis. It is the first documentary and multimedia outreach project that explores how African American communities have used photography to construct political, aesthetic and cultural representations of themselves and the world. THROUGH A LENS DARKLY… is a unique examination of the way black photographers and their subjects have used the camera as a tool for social change from the time photography was invented to present. The film features fellow photographers including Deborah Willis, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Anthony Barboza, Hank Willis Thomas, Lyle Ashton Harris and Glenn Ligon and their art, as it challenged pop culture’s definition of “blackness” and “black people.”
“I was moved by the film, these artists and what their work means to me and to the world at large, ” states Singleton. "This documentary highlights the ongoing battle that black people face defining themselves image-wise. I am proud to be a part of this project.”
THROUGH A LENS DARKLY… is part of a larger transmedia project roadshow that premiered also at Sundance New Frontier. This project includes the website/traveling roadshow Digital Diaspora Family Reunion, which invites audiences to share and upload their own family photographs and participate in the creation of a global family archive that can form communities. The photos are uploaded via Instagram or Twitter through the #1World1Family hashtag and put into the One World – One Family global family album, where all are connected.
"We are pleased to have John Singleton on board the project as one of our executive producers," said filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris. "It is an endorsement of the fundamental message of the film and our #1World1Family campaign, that we have more in common with each other than whatever divides us. Photographs are the surest way for one person to communicate with another's heart. The film, along with our touring Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Roadshow, our online social media campaign via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, are all aimed at celebrating our shared values and experiences as human beings, as reflected in the images that we circulate amongst our closet family, friends and relatives."
Singleton joins Kimberly Steward – the film’s other Executive Producer in support of the project. He was introduced to the project through the film’s sales agent Bill Straus of BGP.
THROUGH A LENS DARKLY… will have its Los Angeles premiere on Friday, February 7 at the Pan African Film Festival and will have its international premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama Section on Saturday, February 8 in Germany.
For more information on THROUGH A LENS DARKLY… and the Digitial Diaspora Family Reunion roadshow, go to www.DDFR.tv
About Chimpanzee Productions, Inc.
Chimpanzee Productions, Inc. (CPI), is a Harlem-based film, television and multimedia production company founded by filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris in 1992 that is dedicated to producing unique visual experiences that embody the search for identity, family and spirituality. CPI’s award-winning films include “Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela,” “E Minha Cara/That's My Face” and “Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing and the Fight for Fairness,” as well as the feature documentary for PBS “Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People.” The company’s innovative Digital Diaspora Family Reunion multimedia community engagement initiative is gaining audiences through the www.DDFR.tv website and family photo-sharing “roadshows” currently touring North America. CPI films and commissioned projects have screened at festivals around the world, including Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, FESPACO, and Outfest, and have been broadcast on PBS, the Sundance Channel, ARTE, CBC and TV New Zealand.