Sapphire and the Slave Girl
Director：L. Franklin Gilliam
Screenwriter：L. Franklin Gilliam
Cast：Nikki Davis, Clare Dolan, Cheryl Downing, Maria Jimenez, Berni Weber, Elisabeth Eckford, Melissa Gilliam, Stephanie Gilliam
Producer：L. Franklin Gilliam
Cinematographer： L. Franklin Gilliam, Kirsten Stoltmann
Running Time：
Region：
Year：
Language：English
Production Company：L. Franklin Gilliam
SYNOPSIS
This film is loosely based on the 1950’s British detective film Sapphire, in which two Scotland Yard detectives investigate the murder of a young woman who is passing for white. Referencing everyone from Marlowe to Shaft, Sapphire and the Slave Girl situates its analysis in the persona of the hard-boiled detective in order to highlight transgressions of identity and location. Featuring a multifarious cast of identity-shifting Sapphires, this fast paced genre-bash visualizes and problematizes how identity is negotiated and performed within urban spaces.
Director Biography
L. Franklin Gilliam’s combined experiences as an artist, educator, and strategic designer have led to a unique career prototyping the future of art, technology, and networked innovation. Gilliam’s creative practice is research-based and multidisciplinary. It has taken the form of film/video art, installation, game events, and illustrated lectures. Gilliam’s approach destabilizes categories of identity, temporality, and genre through the wry juxtaposition of new and obsolete technologies. Gilliam’s projects have been screened and presented widely, including at the 1997 Whitney Biennial (Sapphire and the Slave Girl), Thread Waxing Space Gallery (Apeshit v3),the New Museum (Agenda for a Landscape), the London Film Festival (Now Pretend), New York University Game Center’s “No Quarter,” (Lesberation), the Center for Afrofuturist Studies (Open Call for Luthers) and The Kitchen’s “CodeSwitch: Distributing Blackness, Reprogramming Internet Art” (Race Card/Rage Card).
Director's Statement
L. Franklin Gilliam (they/them) believes that, in a broken world, the vision and creativity of artists are critical to transformative systems change. Gilliam’s combined experiences as an artist, educator, thought leader, and strategist have led to a unique career defining the future of art, design, and learning.
Leave a Comment