Femfilmrogue Tenth Anniversary

 

A milestone day! 

Ten years ago today, femfilmrogue was born, launched by me— a lifelong soap opera lover, cinephile, and avid TV/web series aficionado. This space bridges together individual components, making this blog filled with unexpected moments— a random film review, an essay regarding Black and brown representation, a Saturday soap opera flashback, a Happy Birthday Spotlight iconic actress or filmmaker, or a list article. The most viewed post to date happens to be from the Best TV Couples series of 2018— Maxine Shaw and Kyle Barker. 

My journey to writing about this content began as a staff writer on the iconic feminist site B*tch Fl*cks thanks to my Artist As Writer undergraduate professor, Amber Leab, BF cofounder (alongside Stephanie Rogers). During my time in Philadelphia,  I volunteered at film festivals— Athena Film Festival at Barnard College in New York, Philadelphia Film Festival, and Blackstar Film Festival before becoming part of the screening committees for Dayton Out Here Film Festival (formerly the Dayton LGBT Film Festival) and the inaugural Dayton Black Women’s Film Festival. During these impressionable events, I saw astounding representation onscreen and behind-the-scenes— eye opening experiences encouraging my commitment to valuing the rich complexities of films made by underrepresented voices, mainly Black and women filmmakers. 

A film poster quote was a dream come true. 

Naturally, my first post— a review of Michael Medeiros’s eccentric comedy, Tiger Lily Road— came from being a fan of three-time Daytime Emmys winner Tom Pelphrey off the deceased soap opera Guiding Light. Other soap opera related posts brought this little blog exceptional reception, especially essays regarding the severe lack of investment in stories centering Black and brown characters. There must be around five or so highlighting Bryton James and Mishael Morgan’s characters on Young and the Restless alone— a soap opera that I cannot quit completely. It’s not the same since Morgan’s departure. Furthermore, I look forward to covering the new series The Gates coming to daytime next year. 

The late Barbara O (a fellow Daytonian) in Julie Dash’s Diary of an African Nun, a short film adaptation of Alice Walker’s short story. Dash’s work is highlighted here in this essay Black Women Fimmakers of the 1970s and Where Are They Now.

Some Top All Time Read Post Highlights:

Understanding An Obsession With Kate And Anthony Part Two (Bridgerton) 

An Everlasting Appreciation For Daniel King (from “Insecure”) 

Giving Black Love A Chance & The Best Black Soap Opera Couples (In No Particular Order) 

‘Brown Girl Begins’ Gives Us the Afrofuturist Heroine  We’ve Been Waiting For

Inamorata Brilliantly Defines ‘The Other Woman’

My favorite posts— the “get to know me” posts— happens to be an ode to Melvonna Ballenger and the review of Miryam Charles’s poignant film Cette Maison. 

Femfilmrogue is an independent part in the virtual sphere that will remain a reading space. Writing is one of my great loves, a way of passionately expressing how moving televised or cinematic stories can be. Although no plans are set for a Tik Tok or YouTube channel (must retain a bit of anonymity), my prosy words entail whether you should watch this incredible series or this film regardless of when it was released. Short films are so meaningful and full of depth sometimes more so than a feature length. Also, there’s specialness in viewing content older than the time you’ve lived in or a particular moment that you remembered and feel inclined to spread appreciation about. For example, I recall Sunday mornings devouring Emily of New Moon reruns and eventually forming an essay that has since become popular. I thought I was the only person who liked that Canadian show (particularly the first season). There’s a profound respect for L. A. Rebellion filmmakers— recently heard about an east coast version that I will be sharing once information is gathered. While coupled pairings are featured stories here (perhaps due to my soap opera upbringing), I long to find authentic asexual characters, the solitary aromantic people represented in media like Selah in Selah and the Spades. 

On the horizon, I have a new series in the works— Best Female Friendships Depicted in TV/ Streaming Series, the outcome of the first Dayton Black Women’s Film Festival (look for my Q&A with a few featured filmmakers on Sixty Inches From Center), a Bridgerton season three part one snippet, a review of Lisa Prince’s 1995 feature-length film Love & Suicide starring the late Kamar de los Reyes (wrote about his One Life to Live pairing with real-life wife Sherri Saum), Diarra Kilpatrick’s (American Koko) new series Diarra From Detroit, an Abbott Elementary season three wrap up, and other posts. 

I thank visitors— old and new— those who stayed on, championing this small, timid corner of the internet— fellow cinephiles, avid TV/ web series watchers, filmmakers, showrunners, writers, readers, artists, etc. Thank you for coming and spreading the word about femfilmrogue.