Zeinabu irene Davis is an accomplished and influential director, producer and scholar within the field of African and African American Cinema. Her work expands across documentaries, narrative shorts, and experimental films. Concerned with the depiction of women of African descent, she passionately threads Black womanhood, folklore, and intimacy within her films.

Cycles (USA, 1989, 17 min)
As a woman anxiously awaits her overdue period, she performs African-based rituals of purification. She cleans house and body, and calls on the spirits (Orishas in the Yoruba tradition), receiving much needed inspiration and assurance in a dream. The film combines beautifully intimate still and moving images of the woman’s body and home space, along with playful stop-motion sequences.

A Period Piece (USA, 1991, 4 min)
In this video work, Zeinabu irene Davis and collaborator Quinta Seward perform a comic rap about the false promises in ads for feminine hygiene products.

Trumpetistically Clora Bryant (USA, 1989, 56 min)
This film presents a fond and informative portrait of pioneering female jazz trumpeter Clora Bryant. Rich with tunes and anecdotes, the documentary handsomely details Bryant’s long journey in music and her influence on generations of musicians.

Body of Work with Zeinabu irene Davis: Cycles, A Period Piece, and Trumpetistically Clora Bryant