The Women’s Film Preservation Fund of NYWIFT is proud to announce the New York restoration premiere of Spirit to Spirit: Nikki Giovanni at “To Save and Project,” the 20th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation.
Date: Thursday, January 18th, 2024
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd St, NYC
Tickets: Available online via MoMA starting January 11
The short will be presented as part of Skip Norman’s Blues People, Program 2
Introduced by filmmaker Mirra Bank and Michael Boyce Gillespie, author of Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film
Spirit to Spirit: Nikki Giovanni
Once crowned “The Princess of Black Poetry,” the prolific and political Nikki Giovanni has become one of America’s most popular poets. This lyrical and visually provocative film details the poet’s coming-of-age against the background of her times: the Civil Rights struggle, the Vietnam War, and the Women’s Movement. Independent director and producer Mirra Bank skillfully weaves performance footage with evocative photomontage, archival footage, and colorful animation, creating a dynamic and intimate portrait of the poet. This documentary short was digitally restored in 4K from the 16mm original negatives. (1986. 29 min. USA. Color. English. DCP)
Director: Mirra Bank
Producer: Perrin Ireland
Cinematographer: Skip Norman
“Talent is a light, but mature talent is a beacon and Nikki Giovanni has by her own words joined that small band of talented people who try to show us all the way to go home.”
— THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Spirit to Spirit is a good introduction to Giovanni and a welcome antidote to versaphobia.”
— THE WASHINGTON POST
“Pick of the Week”
— THE NEW YORK TIMES
Restored in 2022 by the Academy Film Archive and the Women’s Film Preservation Fund of New York Women in Film & Television, with support from the Leon Levy Foundation.
Founded in 2003, MoMA’s annual To Save and Project festival has become the Museum’s showcase for presenting new restorations from our archive, as well as work from colleagues around the world—archives, foundations, studios, and others—engaged in maintaining and presenting precious audiovisual heritage.
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019
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NYWIFT programs, screenings and events are supported, in part, by grants from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
