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Losing Ground  /  Suzanne Suzanne

Losing Ground  (1982)
July 18, 2015 - 7:30 pm
In-person: 
Julie Dash, Peggy Dammond Preacely.

California Premiere of New Restoration!

Losing Ground  (1982)


Never theatrically released in its time, this profound feature by filmmaker and playwright Kathleen Collins has been virtually unknown since Collins’ passing in 1988.  Detailing complications in the life of a black, female philosophy professor (Seret Scott) and her artist husband (Bill Gunn), the film is groundbreaking in its depiction of women's sexuality and modern marriage, and in its equanimity for all its characters.

Producer: Eleanor Charles.  Director: Kathleen Collins.  Screenwriter: Kathleen Collins.  Cinematographer: Ronald K. Gray.  Editor: Ronald K. Gray, Kathleen Collins.  With: Seret Scott, Bill Gunn, Duane Jones, Billie Allen, Gary Bolling.  DCP, color, 86 min.

Preceded by

Print courtesy of the Reserve Film and Video Collection of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Suzanne Suzanne  (1982)


A profound and moving portrait of a young woman’s struggle to come to terms with the legacy of her abusive, now-deceased father, and her flight to heroin addiction as a respite.  Recovery and reconciliation with family are Suzanne’s tasks in this spellbinding documentary.

Producer: James V. Hatch, Camille Billops.  Director: James V. Hatch, Camille Billops.  Cinematographer: Dion Hatch.  Editor: Michael Kirchberger.  16mm, b/w, 30 min.

Watch the introduction from Peggy Dammond Preacely and conversation with Julie Dash, moderated by Shannon Kelley, former head of public programs, UCLA Film & Television Archive: