In March 1991, 15-year-old Harlins, a straight-A student at Westchester High School, entered a corner store to buy orange juice for her family. In it, director Sophia Nahli Allison delves deep into the impact of losing Latasha, along with her significance in L.A. history. might be etched on a law firm window today if tragedy had not ended the life, and the dreams, of one African-American girl in South Central Los Angeles years ago. oral history and memories from latasha’s best friend and cousin converge in a dreamlike portrait that shows the impact one brief but brilliant life can have. The director, Sophia Nahli Allison, sat down to talk about the film and her vision to re-imagine the retelling of Black girl stories. Sophia Nahli Allison’s “A Love Track for Latasha” (streaming on Netflix) facilities on the lifetime of Latasha Harlins, a younger Black woman killed by a comfort retailer proprietor. “She just deserved to be remembered because she was a young Black girl that had aspirations, that had desires, that had goals, that had dreams.”. Sophia Nahli Allison the archive. She was a kid,” she insists. She was not anyone that should have been seen as threatening. the archive. Filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison was singled out by DOC NYC for Best Direction in its shorts competition. This week is Sophia Nahli Allison — an American photographer based in Los Angeles. Allison considers her work experimental, and recalls moments when some didn’t “get” A Love Song for Latasha. Sophia Nahli Allison grew up in South Central Los Angeles and recalls experiencing the 1992 L.A. riots as a four year-old girl. The director believes there is something essential to bear in mind about Harlins. Despite such early trauma, she remained dedicated to her studies. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Inspired by portraiture photography and reminiscent of Rembrandt paintings, Portrait of my Mother uses diptychs to create a poetic and intimate story. “They were identifying where Black women and Black girls were being erased from this narrative,” says Allison, “where we were not holding Black women and Black girls in the same regard that we were holding Black men who were victims of anti-Blackness, police brutality, criminalization.”. Dreaming Gave Us Wings (2017-Present) A Love Song For Latasha (2019) Portrait of my Mother (2016) Interpretations (2016) BlackGirlMagic (2016) Prom King (2016) Untangling: The Politics of Black Hair (2017) Marching Together … ... My project Dreaming Gave Us Wings is a self-portrait series. The documentary can be seen as implicitly responding to another cultural issue—the evolution of the Black Lives Matter movement. “I wanted them to have a fuller picture.”. Today, the shocking incident and the lenient sentence given to Du for voluntary manslaughter is remembered as one of the triggers of the 1992 L.A. uprising. Allison is an acclaimed photographer as well as a filmmaker, with documentary credits that include Portrait of My Mother (2016), Black Girl Magic (2016), and Untangling: The Politics of Black Hair (2017). Documentary Shorts Nominees. “I really wanted the image of a Black girl to be seen throughout all of A Love Song for Latasha, that no matter the story we’re listening to, we’re always seeing a young Black girl on the screen, we’re always remembering a young Black girl is who we are discussing. “There are many stories that they’ve shared with me that just show a young girl that understood the complexities of life at such a young age,” Allison notes. COLETTE – Anthony Giacchino, Alice Doyard (France/Germany/U.S., 24 min.) Send us a tip using our annonymous form. As a nonfiction filmmaker, Sophia Nahli Allison had known for some time that there were ways to creatively tell an authentic story without necessarily resorting to facts and figures, brought up by a musician for a father and a folklorist for a mother who raised her to seek out truth in art. A dreamlike portrait of a vibrant 15-year-old girl whose shooting death sparks the 1992 Los Angeles riots. What has been forgotten, or more likely never received attention, was the humanity of the young victim. Copyright © 2021 Penske Business Media, LLC. The Oscar-nominated Netflix short documentary A Love Song for Latasha changes that. 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A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION (Directed by Kris Bowers & Ben Proudfoot, USA, 13 min) - A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family’s lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Portrait of my Mother [2016] is an ethereal and stylized short documentary about the inner strength my mother found to continue moving forward in life despite certain hardships. “She was a young girl, she was a child. Her loss of life contributed to the outcry that led to the 1992 L.A. rebellion, and now in 2020, her story stays extra related than ever. All Rights reserved. “A Love Song for Latasha” screened … - A dreamlike portrait of a vibrant 15-year-old girl whose shooting death sparked the 1992 L.A. She followed Jermanni’s attempts to run for prom king at his conservative high school, where… It’s never a woman.”. Sophia Nahli Allison is an experimental documentary filmmaker and photographer. Portrait of my Mother (2016) Interpretations (2016) BlackGirlMagic (2016) Prom King (2016) Untangling: The Politics of Black Hair (2017) ... CINEMATOGRAPHER Sophia Nahli Allison EDITOR Sophia Nahli Allison ORIGINAL MUSIC Minna Choi ANIMATION Adebukola Bodunrin COLORIST Kya Lou The name Latasha Harlins, Esq. “Three Black queer women founded Black Lives Matter, but there was a moment in time where people tried to erase that and make it seem like it was a movement focused just on Black men,” she notes, “rather than the core reason for Black Lives Matter was for Black woman, for Black queer folks, Black trans folks, and understanding that liberation will not exist until everyone, that the whole spectrum, gender included, is incorporated within this talk of Black liberation.”. Resistance took … Director Sophia Nahli Allison grew up in South Central Los Angeles and recalls experiencing the 1992 L.A. riots as a four year-old girl. “What I think about that poem—it’s her,” Shinese says. For decades the images that defined Harlins came from the chilling and impersonal black-and-white security camera video of her violent death. “There were many times where people didn’t understand what the film was trying to do…But I am just really grateful for the people I had around me that did believe in the vision, that helped keep me going,” she tells Deadline. A Love Song for Latasha won Best Short Documentary at the New Orleans Film Festival and the Black Star Film Festival, as well as recognition at AFI Fest and the Camden International Film Festival, before it claimed the Academy Award nomination. [ runtime 2:14], Past ScreeningsFebruary 2, 2019 - September 14, 2019 at Art + Practice | Time Is Running Out Of Time: Experimental Film and Video from the L.A. She and her younger brother and sister were taken in by their grandmother, and Latasha helped raised her siblings. Sophia Nahli Allison, To Those of My Sisters Who Kept Their Naturals—Gwendolyn Brooks, 2016 Courtesy of Mfon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora 4/15 We want to hear from you! But Allison restores her identity through poetic visuals, animation, and representations of the girl she was. “She wanted to be a lawyer because she wanted someone like her mom to get justice,” Allison observes. A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA – Sophia Nahli Allison, Janice Duncan (U.S., 19 min.) Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy. Do Not Split – Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook (USA/Norway, 36 min.) Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters, Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. Database. Sophia Nahli Allison is an experimental documentary filmmaker and photographer. “Her mother was also killed by gun violence and she wanted justice for her mom’s death.”. Portrait of my Mother is an ethereal and stylized short documentary about my mom’s storyteller career, her journey through illness, the death of her husband and the … 1994, Untangling: The Politics of Black Hair (2017). Moderately […] Black Power Art was inspired by The Broad’s new exhibition in Los Angeles, “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983.”It is intended to be an eye-opener, not just to the work of African-American artists during a crucial period of self … Nearly three decades later, director Sophia Nahli Allison's A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA removes Latasha from the context of her death and rebuilds an archive of a promising life lost. Soon Ja Du, the store owner, falsely accused her of trying to steal the drink, and after a struggle, as Harlins’ back was turned, Du shot her in the back of the head with a pistol. “I did not want the only visual reference people had to be that surveillance footage,” Allison insists. When Harlins was just nine years old, her mother was murdered. nearly three decades later, director sophia nahli allison’s a love song for latasha removes latasha from the context of her death and rebuilds an archive of a promising life lost. Sophia Nahli Allison’s “A Love Song for Latasha” (streaming on Netflix) centers on the life of Latasha Harlins, a young Black girl killed by a convenience store owner. “That was another beautiful thing, having it recognized by the Academy, understanding that it is very unconventional. Riots. The director spoke with two people who knew Latasha best, her cousin Shinese Harlins and her best friend, Ty O’Bard. I also think about my mom and what her photos as a child in school looked like. Sophia Nahli Allison captured our hearts with her story of North Carolina transgender teen, Jermanni. Inspired by portraiture photography and reminiscent of Rembrandt paintings, Portrait of my Mother uses diptychs to create a poetic and intimate story. A Love Song for Latasha – Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan (USA, 18 min.) In Sophia Nahli Allison’s new short ... stirring portrait of the fifteen years that preceded them. In the film, Shinese Harlins reads from an essay her cousin wrote about herself for school. might be etched on a law firm window today if tragedy had not ended the life, and the dreams, of one African-American girl in South Central Los Angeles years ago. Allison salutes the work of Kimberlé Crenshaw and colleagues at the African American Policy Forum who launched the #SayHerName movement in 2014 to bring “awareness to the often invisible names and stories of Black women and girls who have been victimized by racist police violence,” as the AAPF website puts it. “There was a time when I thought those were deficits, but now I think those are learning curves and you either rise up and move through it or you let it undo you.” Sybil Desta film: Portrait of my Mother – Sophia Nahli Allison www.sophianahliallison.com “I always look at this as a rebirth, we’re re-birthing this memory of who she was,” explains director Sophia Nahli Allison. Allison is an acclaimed photographer as well as a filmmaker, with documentary credits that include Portrait of My Mother (2016), Black Girl Magic … It is not your traditional documentary.”, She plans to attend the Academy Awards, along with Oscar-nominated producer Janice Duncan and two very special “plus ones.”, “I actually will be taking Shinese as my lovely guest and then Janice, my creative producer…she will be bringing Ty as her guest,” she says. “She was a loving person.”. Sophia Nahli Allison the archive. The $2 to pay for the orange juice was gripped in Harlins’ hand. Dreaming Gave Us Wings (2017-Present) A Love Song For Latasha (2019) Portrait of my Mother (2016) Interpretations (2016) BlackGirlMagic (2016) Prom King (2016) Untangling: The Politics of Black Hair (2017) Marching Together … The words were written a month before her death. “She understood the environment that she was existing in.”. “The most important thing to me is that my family is always protected by a shield,” Latasha wrote, “so they won’t be torn by dangerous, ruthless, uncaring people.”. I think about all the unknown black children who have been erased from the archives but who still exist. They don’t allow them to be seen in the same way that we see other children,” Allison comments. Director Sophia Nahli Allison Paints Portrait Of Real Latasha Harlins In Oscar-Nominated ‘A Love Song For Latasha’ 2021-04-08 The name Latasha Harlins, Esq. “So we will celebrate that moment with Ty and Shinese and that’s all I’ve ever wanted was for Ty and Shinese to see how their story has impacted so many people, how it has moved so many people, how we will never allow Latasha to be forgotten or to be erased from history.”. Allison is an acclaimed photographer as well as a filmmaker, with documentary credits that include Portrait of My Mother (2016), Black Girl Magic (2016), and Untangling: The … She was not a woman. Portrait of my Mother is an ethereal and stylized short documentary about the inner strength my mother found to continue moving forward in life despite certain hardships. Rebellion and Today2018 Los Angeles Filmforum at MOCA presents | Deconstructing Portraiture: Embodied Landscapes, Afro-Classic Folk Tales Vol 1 featuring Sybil Desta. 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