Creativity in motion: a rare screening of Losing Ground (Kathleen Collins, Etats-Unis / 1982 / 86 min) and a lecture by Alix Beeston

At the time of her death from cancer in 1988, Kathleen Collins was only 46 years old, but she was already an internationally renowned playwright, a popular university professor, and a successful independent filmmaker. Her 1982 film Losing Ground was one of the first fictional features by a Black woman in the US, and it should have ranked high in the canon of indie cinema. However, the 1980s was not an easy time for women or independent filmmakers and the film was never theatrically released.

Some 25 years after her mother’s death, Nina Collins rescued the original negative and created a beautiful new digital master of her mother’s film. Losing Ground now looks and sounds as fresh, bracing, and complex as it did when it was first filmed. A remarkable portrait of a woman's self-discovery amid her failing marriage, the film is a testament to Kathleen Collins’s incredible talent and a lasting treasure of African American and women’s cinema.

Losing Ground will be introduced by Dr. Alix Beeston, GATES Senior Research Fellow, and followed by a lecture by Dr. Beeston exploring Collins's "creativity in motion" and the value of studying women's unfinished works and careers. Tea and coffee will be served between the screening and lecture, and attendees will have the chance to participate in Q and A at the conclusion of the talk. 

Note that the film and lecture will be in English.