A Different Image Explained

A Different Image is a 1982 American film that was directed, written, and edited by Alile Sharon Larkin that explores body image and societal beauty standards through the eyes of a young Black woman on a journey towards self-worth.

Summary

Alana (Margot Saxton-Federlla), an art student, explores sexuality, Western ideals of beauty, and her own self-worth in 1980's Los Angeles.^[1] Vincent (Adisa Anderson), her long-time friend, feels pressured to turn their platonic relationship into a sexual one which further intensified Alana's frustration with western, patriarchal beauty standards and gender norms.^[2]

Cast

• Margòt Saxton-Federella as Alana
• Michael Adisa Anderson as Vincent

Production

Creating a Different Image: Portrait of Alile Sharon Larkin is a 1989 documentary about the making of A Different Image^[3]

Reception

The film is considered as a groundbreaking foray into a realistic character portrait of a young Black woman. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times heralded it as "...extraordinary, a fresh and clear expression of an acute sensibility.^[4] "

Awards and recognition

• First Prize, Black American Cinema Society Award
• Official Selection, London Black Film Festival
• Best Production of 1981, Black Filmmaker Foundation
• Runner Up, Best Short Film, Filmex^[5]
• Official Selection, the 2011 L. A. Rebellion: Creating New Cinema^[6]

Screenings

• UCLA's L.A. Rebellion Film Series, UCLA Hammer Museum, 2011^[7]
• Madeline Anderson Shorts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2013^[8]
• Afterimage: Madeline Anderson, Berkeley Art Museum, 2016^[9]
• One Way or Another: Black Women's Cinema, 1970–1991, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2017^[10]

Preservation

The Black Film Center/Archive preserved A Different Image, which included 16mm original color reversal A/B rolls and full-coat magnetic track elements. They produced a 16mm color internegative, a soundtrack negative, and two new 16mm projection prints.^[11]

The script of the film was published in a 1991 compilation of collected works called Screenplays of the African American Experience.

See also

• L.A. Rebellion
• Black Women Filmmakers

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mumin. Nijla. "A Different Image": Alile Sharon Larkin Retrospective (L.A. Rebellion Film Series) IndieWire. www.indiewire.com. en.
2. Book: Field. Allyson. L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema. 2015. Univ of California Press. 9780520960435. en.
3. Web site: Creating a Different Image: Portrait of Alile Sharon Larkin UCLA Film & Television Archive. www.cinema.ucla.edu.
4. Web site: Women Make Movies A Different Image. www.wmm.com.
5. Web site: SPLA Alile Sharon Larkin. www.spla.pro. en.
6. Web site: Movie: A Different Image – Sembene Film Festival. www.sembenefilmfestival.org.
7. Web site: "A Different Image": Alile Sharon Larkin Retrospective (L.A. Rebellion Film Series). shadowandact.com. en.
8. Web site: Madeline Anderson Shorts. BAM.org. en.
9. Web site: Afterimage: Madeline Anderson BAMPFA. bampfa.org. en.
10. Web site: One Way or Another: Black Women's Cinema, 1970-1991. BAM.org. en.
11. Web site: Alile Sharon Larkin Black Film Center/Archive. blackfilmcenterarchive.wordpress.com. en.