Sensei Aishitemasu | Hidden Figures: Jessie Maple #BlackHERstoryMonth 17/28 @SenseiAishitemasu | Uploaded February 2021 | Updated October 2024, 6 minutes ago.
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Jessie Maple is an American cinematographer and film director, most noted as the first Black American woman to be accepted into the Cinematographers Union and the first Black American female independent filmmaker of the contemporary film age. She is considered a pioneer for the civil rights of Black Americans and women in the film industry.

Maple was born in Louisiana in 1947, into a family of 4 brothers and seven sisters. She worked in a bacteriology laboratory and initially got into filmmaking simply because she didn't want to work in the lab anymore. She applied and was accepted to the National Education Television Training School, a program run by WNET public television in New York City for Black Americans to learn behind-the-scenes camera jobs in order to get into the union. She also received film training through Ossie Davis' Third World Cinema Corporation, which was a company formed to promote film roles for Black actors.

She began her career in film as an apprentice editor for Gordon Parks’ early 70s feature films Shaft's Big Score! and The Super Cops. After being admitted to the Film Editor's Union, Maple studied and passed the examination for the Cinematographer's Union. Yet a prolonged legal struggle occurred throughout 1973, with Maple suing various unions, television stations, and guilds for their reluctance to admit her after she passed her cinematographers examination. In 1974, Maple became the first Black American woman admitted to the International Photographers of Motion Picture & Television Union. Also in 1974, Maple cofounded LJ Films Productions with her husband, Leroy Patton, to produce short documentaries. Through LJ Films, she self-published a book on her journey to being a cinematographer, entitled ‘How to Become a Union Camerawoman, in 1976.

Maple became a news camerawoman handling camerawork and editing for New York’s ABC, CBS and NBC affiliate TV stations. Through LJ Productions, Maple also released several documentaries, including one on the use of methadone to treat heroin addiction, and another on Black economic power. In February 1976, Ebony magazine ran a feature on Jessie Maple, where she first mentioned that she was working on her own film project. Five years later, in 1981, Maple released the independent feature film 'Will,' a Harlem-based drama about a girls' basketball coach struggling with heroin addiction. With that release, Maple became the first Black American woman to direct a contemporary independent feature film.

Maple and her husband also opened the ‘20 West Theater, Home of Black Cinema’ in the basement of their Harlem brownstone in 1982. For 10 years, they showcased both studio-produced and independent Black films, and 20 West was one of the first theaters to show films by Spike Lee. In 1989, Maple released her second independent film, Twice as Nice, about twin sisters who play basketball. In 2005, Maple donated her personal collection to The Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University, and they maintain an extensive collection of her papers, films, photos, personal correspondence, and more in their Jessie Maple Collection.

#HiddenFigures #JessieMaple

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Links:

Into the Archive: Exploring the Jessie Maple Collection:
blackfilmcenterarchive.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/exploring-the-jessie-maple-collection

Jessie Maple Collection, 1971-1992:
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?doc.view=entire_text&docId=VAC1145

Jessie Maple:
blackwomendirectors.co/jessie-maple

“I invest in myself and I make my films”: Jessie Maple on breaking boundaries and filmmaking [Audio]:
https://nublockmuseum.blog/2020/02/06/i-invest-in-myself-and-i-make-my-films-jessie-maple-on-breaking-boundaries-and-filmmaking-audio/

The Life and Contribution of Jessie Maple:
http://darkiris.tft.ucla.edu/jessie-maple/

Remembering Jessie Maple And Her Landmark 1981 Feature-Length Film, 'Will':
shadowandact.com/remembering-jessie-maple-and-her-landmark-1981-feature-length-film-will

An Evening with Jessie Maple:
filmlinc.org/films/an-evening-with-jessie-maple