Reel Sisters Screens Black Girl
Thursday, 18 June 2026, 22:30
Reel Sisters Screens Black Girl · 91 Claremont Ave, New York, NY 10027, USA, Cliffside Park
In celebration of Juneteenth, Reel Sisters will host a historic screening of the recently restored classic film Black Girl written award-winning playwright and filmmaker by j.e. franklin on June 18, 2026 at Riverside Theater in Harlem! Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation, Black Girl is a meditation on Black Feminity and celebrates three generations of women striving for a better life. Starring Ruby Dee and directed by Ossie Davis, the film was released in 1972 and is based on j.e. franklin's play that was produced by Woodie King Jr.
Bridgett M. Davis, the director of Naked Acts and author of Love, Rita, will lead the film talk,
The special screening is dedicated to Woodie King for his legacy of supporting Black artists and institutions.
Tickets: $7, plus platform fees
Venue: Riverside Theater, 91 Claremont Ave. (cor. 121 St.)
Black Girl
Director: Ossie Davis Writer: j.e. franklin
narrative, 97 min.
Black Girl celebrates the aspirations of three generations of women who strive for a better life. Billie Jean has dropped out of school and secretly taken a job as a dancer in a local bar, her ultimate goal is to become a ballet dancer. Billie Jean must fight a multiplicity of challenges, family issues, sex, racism and classism to win an education and forge her own identity.
The stellar cast includes actors Ruby Dee, Leslie Uggams, Louis Stubbs, Brock Peters and Loretta Greene. Peggy Pettitt stars in the lead role of Billie Jean. The film was directed by Ossie Davis and the play was produced by Woodie King, Jr.
j.e. franklin
Best known for her landmark play “Black Girl”, j.e. franklin is founder of the Blackgirl Ensemble Theatre in NYC and a faculty member of the Harlem School of the Arts. J. e. franklin has earned acclaim for her uncompromising depictions of contemporary African American life. Her plays and other writings examine themes of identity, family relationships, and oppression. They portray both the dreams and the harsh realities that shape the experience of African-Americans in the decades after the Civil Rights Movement.
In 1972 Black Girl became a feature film, with a screen adaptation by franklin, featuring a star-studded cast and direction by Ossie Davis. Over the next four decades, Franklin received many awards for playwriting, among them a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship (1979), a Rockefeller Fellowship (1980), and the John F. Kennedy New American Play Award. She has taught at a number of academic institutions, including Lehman College, the University of Iowa, and Touro College. In addition to Black Girl, many of her plays have been produced at theatres around the country: A First Step to Freedom (1964), The In-Crowd (1964), Four Women (1973), MacPilate (1974), The Prodigal Sister (1974), Miss Honey’s Young’uns (1984), The Onliest-One Who Can’t Go Nowhere (1992), Christchild (1992), Mother, Dear Mother, I Still Think of Thee (2015), That’s Why They Calls Us Colored: Bless They Hearts (2017).
HOST
Bridgett M. Davis (pronounced Brih-jet) is the author of the memoir, Love, Rita, published by Harper Books in spring 2025.
Her first memoir, The World According To Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life In The Detroit Numbers, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, named a Best Book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews, BuzzFeed, NBC News and Parade Magazine, and featured as a clue on the quiz show Jeopardy! The upcoming film adaptation will be produced by Plan B Entertainment and released by Searchlight Pictures.
She is author of two novels, Into the Go-Slow, named a Best Book of 2014 by The San Francisco Chronicle, and Shifting Through Neutral, shortlisted for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award.
Davis is also writer/director of the 1998 award-winning feature film Naked Acts, newly restored by Milestone Films and released in 2024 to critical acclaim, and screening in theaters across the US as well as international venues. For information on Bridgett visit www.bridgettdavis.com.
Bridgett M. Davis, the director of Naked Acts and author of Love, Rita, will lead the film talk,
The special screening is dedicated to Woodie King for his legacy of supporting Black artists and institutions.
Tickets: $7, plus platform fees
Venue: Riverside Theater, 91 Claremont Ave. (cor. 121 St.)
Black Girl
Director: Ossie Davis Writer: j.e. franklin
narrative, 97 min.
Black Girl celebrates the aspirations of three generations of women who strive for a better life. Billie Jean has dropped out of school and secretly taken a job as a dancer in a local bar, her ultimate goal is to become a ballet dancer. Billie Jean must fight a multiplicity of challenges, family issues, sex, racism and classism to win an education and forge her own identity.
The stellar cast includes actors Ruby Dee, Leslie Uggams, Louis Stubbs, Brock Peters and Loretta Greene. Peggy Pettitt stars in the lead role of Billie Jean. The film was directed by Ossie Davis and the play was produced by Woodie King, Jr.
j.e. franklin
Best known for her landmark play “Black Girl”, j.e. franklin is founder of the Blackgirl Ensemble Theatre in NYC and a faculty member of the Harlem School of the Arts. J. e. franklin has earned acclaim for her uncompromising depictions of contemporary African American life. Her plays and other writings examine themes of identity, family relationships, and oppression. They portray both the dreams and the harsh realities that shape the experience of African-Americans in the decades after the Civil Rights Movement.
In 1972 Black Girl became a feature film, with a screen adaptation by franklin, featuring a star-studded cast and direction by Ossie Davis. Over the next four decades, Franklin received many awards for playwriting, among them a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship (1979), a Rockefeller Fellowship (1980), and the John F. Kennedy New American Play Award. She has taught at a number of academic institutions, including Lehman College, the University of Iowa, and Touro College. In addition to Black Girl, many of her plays have been produced at theatres around the country: A First Step to Freedom (1964), The In-Crowd (1964), Four Women (1973), MacPilate (1974), The Prodigal Sister (1974), Miss Honey’s Young’uns (1984), The Onliest-One Who Can’t Go Nowhere (1992), Christchild (1992), Mother, Dear Mother, I Still Think of Thee (2015), That’s Why They Calls Us Colored: Bless They Hearts (2017).
HOST
Bridgett M. Davis (pronounced Brih-jet) is the author of the memoir, Love, Rita, published by Harper Books in spring 2025.
Her first memoir, The World According To Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life In The Detroit Numbers, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, named a Best Book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews, BuzzFeed, NBC News and Parade Magazine, and featured as a clue on the quiz show Jeopardy! The upcoming film adaptation will be produced by Plan B Entertainment and released by Searchlight Pictures.
She is author of two novels, Into the Go-Slow, named a Best Book of 2014 by The San Francisco Chronicle, and Shifting Through Neutral, shortlisted for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award.
Davis is also writer/director of the 1998 award-winning feature film Naked Acts, newly restored by Milestone Films and released in 2024 to critical acclaim, and screening in theaters across the US as well as international venues. For information on Bridgett visit www.bridgettdavis.com.