Remembrance:
A Portrait Study

Edward Owens
1967/ USA/ 6 min

“Remembrance: A Portrait Study” is an experimental short film from Edward Owens (1949–2009), a queer African-American filmmaker who was involved with the New American Cinema of the 1960s. Owens himself on the film:

 

“The music is by Marilyn Monroe singing Running Wild from Some Like It Hot, because it’s a film portrait of Nettie Thomas. She did floors in white women’s homes, like black women did to support their families in the olden days. My mother is sitting in a wicker chair with an ostrich feather boa, a grey worsted wool skirt, a silk belt. For her portrait, I used All Cried Out by Dusty Springfield…”