Have you ever seen yourself on screen? For Black girls, the answer can be complicated. DirectHer spoke to director Kyra Knox and Danielle Scruggs, creator of Black Women Directors to highlight how the lack of diversity in film during their teens pushed them to enter the film industry.
Lack of representation on screen, whether it’s the characters or the stories that are being told, has an impact on your self-confidence. Feeling seen in your teens can influence your future opportunities.
The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that over a period of 15 years and 1600 films, only 7% featured an underrepresented female lead, and the percentage of girls and women on screen hasn’t improved since 2008.
Although the likes of Bottoms, The Hate U Give and Girlhood provide some scope on growing up as a Black girl, the statistics show we are far from having enough stories being explored about the Black experience, especially in mainstream film.
A survey from Paramount found 59% of people who felt underrepresented in the film said it made them feel unimportant, ignored, or disappointed.
On an independent level, these narratives are being created by Black female directors such as Raine Allen Miller, Savannah Leaf, and Dee Rees. A lack of access to budgets and convincing the distribution heads to market their films has affected their success.
Kyra Knox is a producer and director from Philadelphia who created her debut documentary Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia on Amazon Prime.
The effects of lack of representation
From the age of six, Knox entered the arts, being sent to theatre camp by her grandparents and performing on stage. This followed into her teens when she attended Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.
She said: “I didn’t feel represented at all when I was growing up but back then, for Black culture, they didn’t really have anything that represented us.”
Knox could not name one film where she felt recognised as a Black girl embarking on the turbulent times of growing up.
“I feel if that representation was there when I was a teenager, I would’ve definitely been a filmmaker sooner.
“I want the girls that were [like] me growing up to see themselves on the big screen. Little Kyra would’ve loved that.”
The Geena Davis Institute found when Black girls are featured in films, they are more likely to be sexualised, depicted as violent, and less attractive than white women.
Stereotyping is felt the worse among women from diverse backgrounds, with these harmful portrayals contributing to young women’s perceptions of themselves.
Kyra explained: “There’s so many different avenues for us in film, that’s why I think it’s very important to tell honest stories, stop showing these young girls that they’re not enough.
“I feel everything is so stereotypical; I wanna see the story of the nerdy girl who’s just trying to figure out life, not the stereotypical nerdy girl who has to turn into a swan.”
Redirecting the narrative
Knox’s upcoming production South Side Girls follows two teenage girls in the early 2000s; an introverted homebody and her outspoken best friend lean on each other to navigate home challenges and first loves in a Puerto Rican neighbourhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Filming is expected to commence in 2025.
Her passion for the project is evident, saying: “I’m so excited to show these Latina girls navigating life. We’re going to be showing them in a way where young girls can see themselves on the big screen.”
This is important as the stories that get the spotlight are related to the minds behind the cameras: writing, directing and producing the films.
The Annenberg Institute discovered all films made by Black directors centre Black leads and co-leads in their productions, compared with 6% of movies directed by white directors.
Across their film sample ranging between 2007 and 2023, only 11 Black women have sat in the director’s chair.
Knox didn’t start her career in film until her mid-30s but has still experienced her fair share of battles behind the scenes.
“It’s very hard not only being a woman but also being a Black woman in this industry. I’ve always had to work a thousand times harder than men or people who don’t look like me. They get those opportunities so much easier than me.
“I’ll never forget, I was doing a shoot in Chicago, and one of the actors automatically assumed I was a production assistant, threw his coat at me and said, ‘Can you pick up my coat’. I waited until we had our safety meeting, and they introduced me as the producer, and I saw his eyes get very wide, thinking, ‘Oh, shit!’. I’ve always had to battle those circumstances, which have been very tough for me.”
Knox as a director, has faced personal struggles in getting her films financed and recognised by wider audiences, preventing her storytelling from being seen.
“They’ve got to give Black filmmakers the money. I think definitely helping to fund these stories and get the word out, so we can tell them will be so beneficial.”
She admits this struggle has made her contemplate leaving the industry: “There have been times. I’m only just emerging, but I have so many people who look up to me who are constantly telling me that I’m an inspiration so I can’t give up because I don’t want to let those people down.
“I want to be able to tell younger Kyra that I am enough, I don’t want to let her down. Young Kyra would never give up, a very determined little girl so I have to keep that energy.”
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Girlhood for Black women going forward
Danielle Scruggs runs the network Black Women Directors. She is also a set photographer and photo editor at the Wall Street Journal. She grew up during the 90s in Chicago, where she felt misunderstood as a teen and expressed mixed feelings when asked whether she felt represented in film.
She said: “Girlhood for me was a time of constant transition and discovery. You’re figuring out, what is it you believe about the world? What is important to you? It’s also just a time of exploration, I definitely felt that when I was growing up.
“At a time where you’re trying to figure out what you want to be and who to be, seeing these characters and storylines being depicted through people who look like you can make you feel less lonely and isolated.”
Scruggs mentions Spike Lee’s Crooklyn, which follows the lives of a school teacher, her jazz musician husband and their five kids in Brooklyn during the 70s.
She said: “It just captures what it feels to be growing up as a Black girl. There were so many parts that I could relate to whether it was how close the family was, or the misadventures that the girl had growing up in Brooklyn. I was also growing up in a big city, so I could definitely relate.
“I think it was the way it was written, the characters were fully fleshed out, all the performances felt very lived in and natural, I felt I knew these people.”
Scruggs also mentioned Jinn directed by Nijla Mumin and A Thousand and One directed by A.V. Rockwell, which she felt illustrated experiences of authentic Black girlhood.
She said: “I thought they were really beautiful depictions of what it’s like to be a Black girl teenager. When you think of broader representation in the mainstream, there’s just not a lot out there, it’s less in abundance now.”
Despite a rise in awareness and campaigns to promote diversity in Hollywood, Scruggs felt the 90s had more to offer in terms of feeling represented.
She explained: “I just want more stories to be told. Part of the beauty of running Black Women Directors is seeing how much diversity there is within the African diaspora which shows the Black experience from so many different points of view.
“If there’s still the same type of people behind the scenes, how much real progress can we make?
“I want everyone to be able to tell their story and not have their project languish because they can’t get the funding.”
There is reason to be optimistic, however. 19% of the top 100 films in 2022 featured a female main character from an underrepresented ethnic group, the highest it’s been since 2007.
Directors and advocates like Kyra Knox and Danielle Scruggs are changing the grain in film, rewriting the stereotypes and narratives to make young Black girls feel seen.
Academic Spotlight: The Real Affects
Mary Celeste Kearney is an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame whose work focuses on girls’ media culture. She wrote the book Girls Make Media.
Kearney discusses Affect theory which looks into how films invoke certain emotions but in a way that is deeply connected to your development as an individual.
The reactions you feel when watching a film can link to your behaviours and attitudes towards society.
She said: “Representation is huge. If all you’re seeing is people who don’t look like you, then imagine how you feel.
“More authentic representation is needed, where each individual is represented in an equally respectable manner, that means not being the token one person but having characters in communities with people that look like them too- If it’s not authentic then it’s not respectful, that should be our goal always.”
In her book, she discusses how the responsibility of intersectional filmmaking embraces both race and gender falls on the shoulders of female directors from diverse backgrounds.
She explained: “Women of colour have become filmmakers in order to represent members of their community who are often stereotyped or ignored by commercial media industries.
“I think white women need to give up some of their privileges and let women of colour cease the microphone and cameras. People are going to have to let others go ahead of them to see real change.”
