Meet BESS (formerly known as Gershwin, Norway and the Artists’ Libido: A Dialogue with Anne Brown)
Producer/Director/Editor
Nicole Franklin
Director of Photography
Henry Adebonojo
Producer
Hanna Hemila
Upon collaborating with legendary composer George Gershwin, Anne Brown became the original Bess of the American opera Porgy and Bess. Filmed in HD24p and currently a work-in-progress (screened at Harlem Film Festival 2005, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival 2005), Meet BESS is a one-hour documentary shooting in the United States and Scandinavia, originating in Oslo, Norway.
Dream Street (In Pre-Production)
Producer
Nicole Franklin
Writer/Director
Lonette McKee™
Executive Producer
Lonette Productions, Ltd.
Dream Street, an edgy, character driven urban drama is the directorial debut of veteran actress/singer Lonette McKee™. The riveting story follows the bitter sweet journey of Lola Mars, a once promising hip hop music writer/producer, as she struggles to rebuild her life and dreams after a freak accident leaves her disfigured, outcast and financially bankrupt. The beguiling, tragic and ultimately uplifting theme explores the ability of the human spirit to rise above hardships and overcome the blows that life often deals those on the fringes of society.
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm:
Take 2 1/2 (2005)
Assistant Camera/Camera/Starring as Herself
Nicole Franklin
Producer/Writer/Director
William Greaves
Photo Credit: Susan Stava
As a cameraperson/camera assistant/on-camera talent, Nicole shot the feature Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 1/2 , for Executive Producer Steven Soderbergh, Producer Steve Buscemi and Producer/Director William Greaves. Filmed on Panasonic 24p, Symbio… is the sequel to the 1968 film Symbio…Take One that profiled a wayward director (Greaves) and his rebellious crew. The film premiered at Sundance 2005 and went on to screen in New York’s Tribeca Film Festival.
Harlem Sistas Double Dutch (2005)
Co-Screenwriter/Co-Executive Producer/Director
Nicole Franklin
Co-Executive Producer/Co-Screenwriter
Peter Parros
Producer
Faith Pennick
WNET's Reel New York X
Woodstock Film Festival 2005
From the screenplay, When Sistas Jump, Nicole Franklin’s short film Harlem Sistas Double Dutch brings to life the characters Vivian and Ruby who are thriving women in Harlem’s new renaissance. Vivian, a free-spirited Harlem diva gives advice to her admiring niece in a film that shows how family bonds can get in the way of a woman’s night on the town. Or do they?
Filmed on the Panasonic 24p.
Journeys In Black: the Jamie Foxx
Biography (2001)
Producer/Director/Writer/Editor
Nicole Franklin
Director of Photography
Marcia Machado
Black Entertainment Television/BET Pictures II
EPIPHANY Inc. proposed the segment featuring the life story of the successful actor/musician/comedian for the BET biography series two years prior to his Oscar winning role in Ray.
I Was Made To Love Her:
the Double Dutch Documentary (2000)
Producer/Director/Editor
Nicole Franklin
Co-Producer
Gina Vizzini
Director of Photography
Marcia Machado
Sundance Channel (2001-2003)
Distributor, Filmakers Library
(www.filmakers.com)
I Was Made To Love Her: the Double Dutch Documentary is a film about women of all ages jumping double Dutch jumprope and the game itself as it has grown from neighborhood pastime to international sport. The title, “I Was Made To Love Her,” is named after the Stevie Wonder classic song.
From the youngest jumper, age two, to the oldest jumper, age 49, the women in this film portray how this game that has survived over time is a vital part of their everyday lives. Through different situations and different generations, teamwork and their love for each other is what keeps them together. For as in the dynamics of double Dutch—the jumpers in concert with the turners—no one member is any more important than the other.
Awards:
- Best Documentary, Atlanta’s Night of the Black Independents
- Best Documentary, Hollywood Black Film Festival
- Best African-American Documentary, Brooklyn Film Festival
- CiNY Award for Outstanding Filmmaking, Cinewomen NY
- Gordon Parks Award Finalist for Directing a Feature
- Honorable Mention, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Filmworks
- Grant Recipient of The Jerome Foundation
- Grant Recipient of the Women’s Film Finishing Fund
Screenings:
-
"Here's Looking At You Kid" Film Festival sponsored by The Lower East Side Girls' Club
(New York) - The 2000-2001 Hollywood East Film Screening Series, Urban Sessions
- The Independent Feature Film Market sponsored by IFP/NY
- The International Perspectives category of the Atlantic Film Festival Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Brooklyn Film Festival (New York)
- Spring 2000 presentation of the New York Association of Black Journalists
- Anthology Film Archives’ New Filmmakers Series, New York, NY
The Double Dutch Divas! (2000)
Producer/Director/Editor
Nicole Franklin
Co-Producer
Gina Vizzini
Director of Photography
Marcia Machado
Filmakers Library, Distributor (www.filmakers.com)
The Double Dutch Divas! is the short film derived from the award-winning feature-length I Was Made To Love Her: the Double Dutch Documentary which follows three different generations of women jumping rope. The Double Dutch Divas are the oldest of these jumpers.
Women with names like Spirit, Smooth, Faith, Heart, Spice, Joy, Sassy and Lady Di are the core of the Double Dutch Divas, a team that has mastered the art of jumping and dancing double Dutch during their twenty years together. They are a real life example of sisterhood at its best. Giving show stopping performances in the United States and abroad, they bring fitness and fun to a multitude of people of all ethnicities.
The game of double Dutch is an urban game where two ropes turn simultaneously in egg-beater fashion and one or more persons jump in the middle. Practiced and performed by both women and men, it is still a game where women shine. Age doesn't stop a Double Dutch Diva. The oldest jumper is forty-nine. They're married, they're single, they're mothers, they’re stress-ridden career people-they never allow the word "can't" into their vocabulary. Thus, nothing keeps them from taking back their childhood and inspiring audiences everywhere.
Awards:
- Audience Award, African-American Women in Cinema Conference and Festival First Runner Up, First Annual Original Action Shero Film Festival Brooklyn, NY
- Inspirational Documentary Award, Riverrun Film Festival Ashville, NC
- Honorable Mention, Women of Color Film Festival New York, NY
Screenings:
- The Double Dutch Divas! premiered at Sista’s Place in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, NY on Saturday, September 2nd, 2000
- The Double Dutch Divas! was screened by the African-American Film Association at The New School in New York City
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened during the “Family Day” companion program of New York’s Dance On Camera Film Festival, January 7th, 2001
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened at the Harlem Film Festival Feb. 4th, 2001
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened and was a panel discussion at the African Diaspora Festival, People Center at the American Museum of Natural History, NYC
- The Double Dutch Divas! won the Audience Award at the Fourth Annual African-American Women in Cinema Film Conference and Festival, Brooklyn, NY
- The Double Dutch Divas! placed as First Runner Up in the First Annual Original Action Shero Film Festival, Brooklyn, NY
- The Double Dutch Divas! won the Inspirational Documentary Award at the Riverrun Film Festival in Ashville, NC, September, 2001
- The Double Dutch Divas! had its international debut at Brazil’s first AfroFest, April 30th, 2002
- The Double Dutch Divas! was presented by the Brooklyn Chapter of the Links and screened as part of the Brooklyn Arts Council’s 36th International Film and Video Festival, Women of African Descent--Linkages: Women, Their Families, Neighborhoods and the Global Community. Spike Lee Screening Room, Long Island U., May 2002.
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened at Historic Harlem Parks Film Fest, June 2002
- The Double Dutch Divas! was screened at Bergen Community College in February 2003, sponsored by National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. (Bergen/Passaic Chapter), African Voices Magazine and Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival.
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened during Festival do Rio, BR in Rio de Janeiro, Fall 2003
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened during Belo Horizonte Afro-Brazilian Film Festival, Fall 2003
- The Double Dutch Divas! received Honorable Mention at the summer 2004 Women of Color Film Festival in New York City.
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened at the Constellation Change Film Festival March 2005 in London, England
- The Double Dutch Divas! screened as part of the Paul Robeson Initiative in the 2005 Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, Africa
Belle
Co-Producer
Nicole Franklin
Writer/Director
Ruth Sergel
A Street Pictures Production/DVD (2003)
A subversive fable of old age and beauty, Belle is the story of an 85 year-old woman, a lovable bigot, who in fighting her own daily battles, demonstrates how the elderly are of little worth in a society that rewards youth. This film was shot on 35mm. Film Festivals include Tribeca Film Festival, Lake Placid Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.
Moment To Moment
Producer
Nicole Franklin
Writer/Director
George Valencia
Executive Producer
Queen Fig Productions
(2002)
Moment To Moment profiles a Puerto Rican family man from the projects of Upper Manhattan and the different personas he adapts that make for a lively commute to work as a butler in a more lavish residence on the Upper West Side. This film, shot on DV PAL, premiered at both the 2003 New York Latino International Film Festival and the 2003 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, which ran simultaneously.
Award: Showtime Latino Filmmaker Award 2003
Ladies Room
Producer
Nicole Franklin
Writer/Director
Kate Bernstein
(2002)
Ladies Room is a behind-the-scenes look at the conversations and activities of young girls and women that take place in a variety of restrooms. This film, a mix of Super 16mm and DV PAL, was in competition at Slamdance 2004 and screened at many festivals including Fayetteville Short Film Festival, Best of Slamdance in New York, Taos Film Festival and the Arizona International Film Festival (Special Jury Award).
Nicole has Produced/Field produced/Directed/Stage Managed videos for Mumbleypeg Productions, New York Life (Studio 51), Safe Horizon (New York Times Foundation/ Great Plains Productions/Mona Ink Productions), The United Way (Foster Care Task Force), My Soul Sings Gospel Music Publishing, Mount Morris Park Historic District (Harlem, NY) and the Center for Black Music Research/Columbia College Chicago in both their Chicago and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands facilities.