A Different Image is a 1982 American film that was directed, written, and edited by Alile Sharon Larkin that explores body image and societal beauty standards through the eyes of a young Black woman on a journey towards self-worth.
Summary Alana (Margot Saxton-Federlla), an art student, explores sexuality, Western ideals of beauty, and her own self-worth in 1980's Los Angeles. Vincent (Adisa Anderson), her long-time friend, feels pressured to turn their platonic relationship into a sexual one which further intensified Alana's frustration with western, patriarchal beauty standards and gender norms.
Cast Margòt Saxton-Federella as Alana Michael Adisa Anderson as Vincent
Production Creating a Different Image: Portrait of Alile Sharon Larkin is a 1989 documentary about the making of A Different Image
Reception The film is considered as a groundbreaking foray into a realistic character portrait of a young Black woman. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times heralded it as "...extraordinary, a fresh and clear expression of an acute sensibility."
Awards and recognition First Prize, Black American Cinema Society Award Official Selection, London Black Film Festival Best Production of 1981, Black Filmmaker Foundation Runner Up, Best Short Film, Filmex Official Selection, the 2011 L. A. Rebellion: Creating New Cinema
Screenings UCLA's L.A. Rebellion Film Series, UCLA Hammer Museum, 2011 Madeline Anderson Shorts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2013 Afterimage: Madeline Anderson, Berkeley Art Museum, 2016 One Way or Another: Black Women's Cinema, 1970–1991, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2017
Preservation The Black Film Center/Archive preserved A Different Image, which included 16mm original color reversal A/B rolls and full-coat magnetic track elements. They produced a 16mm color internegative, a soundtrack negative, and two new 16mm projection prints.
The script of the film was published in a 1991 compilation of collected works called Screenplays of the African American Experience.
See also L.A. Rebellion Black Women Filmmakers
References
External links
A Different Image at AllMovie