Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth 2013
Distributed by Women Make Movies, 115 W. 29th Street, Suite 1200,New York, NY, 10001; 212-925-0606
Produced by Pratibha Parmar and Kali Films LTD
Directed by Pratibha Parmar
DVD, color, 83 min.
High School - General Adult
African Americans, Biography, English, Gender Identity, History, Literary Criticism, Political Science, Popular Culture, Social Activism
Date Entered: 05/05/2016
Reviewed by Linda Kelly Alkana, Department of History, California State University Long BeachAlice Walker: Beauty in Truth pays homage to the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple (1982) and political activist Alice Walker. Using archival footage and talking-head interviews, this documentary traces Walker’s life as the daughter of an African-American sharecropper family, through her education, to her civil rights, feminist and human rights activism. Walker, herself, features prominently in this documentary as do other well-known figures such as Angela Davis, Danny Glover, Whoopie Goldberg, Quincy Jones, Sonia Sanchez, Sapphire, Steven Spielberg, Gloria Steinem and Howard Zinn. Archival footage ranging from images of the Jim Crow South to Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington, DC, and Yoko Ono presenting Alice Walker with the LennonOno Peace Prize are used to demonstrate the historic range of Alice Walker’s contributions and experiences.
The film spends more time on Walker as a woman, writer and activist than on her writings, but it does reveal how prolific Walker is and how varied her writings are. The film also discusses the controversies that surround some of her works.
Alice Walker: Truth in Beauty is well shot and edited. For example, peaceful images of Walker in her gardens or at her desk contrast with the violent black and white civil rights footage, which together add context and texture to an understanding of Alice Walker and her work. The DVD offers several additional features including an interview with its director Pratibha Parmar, an audio of Alice Walker reading the poem “Remember,” and viewing guides. Awards
- Audience Award, Paris International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival, 2014
- Jury Prize, Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, 2013
- Jury Prize Best Documentary, Napa Valley Film Festival
- Jury Prize Best Documentary, Qfest Philadelphia
- Audience Award Best Documentary, QReel
- Public Award for Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color, African Diaspora International Film Festival