The Diary of an African Nun

A nun in Uganda weighs the emptiness she finds in her supposed union with Christ.  Adapted from a short story by Alice Walker, the film was a deliberate first move by its director toward narrative filmmaking, though its graphic simplicity and pantomimed performance by Barbara O. Jones give it an intensity that anticipates Julie Dash’s work on Daughters of the Dust. 

—Shannon Kelley

Available for research at UCLA