From February 12 to 16, 2023, the American documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter visited Havana for a series of screenings and exchanges with Cuban filmmakers and businesswomen.
The visit was sponsored by the US Department of State Film Showcase and the University of Southern California. He kicked off the 2023 Black History Month celebrations at the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
A Press release from the Embassy recalls that the filmmaker is the founder of the independent film production company Trilogy Films, and that his works have been shown on platforms such as HBO, PBS, Discovery and Netflix. In these documentaries, she specifies, her author addresses sociocultural issues such as the role of the Afro-American diaspora and women in contemporary society.
Other projects of his include the documentary Vernon Jordan: Make It Plain, about Vernon Jordan’s rise from the segregated South to become one of America’s most influential African-American thought leaders; and The Way I See Itabout Pete Souza, the official White House photographer of President Barack Obama.
his documentary Trapped, on current laws in abortion clinics in the South of the United States, won the special jury prize for social impact at the Sundance Film Festival (2016), as well as a Peabody, among other awards.
Dawn also directed and produced Spies of Mississippi, a critically acclaimed documentary that was part of PBS’s Independent Lens series. In 2015 she directed and produced Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeperfor The Discovery Channel, about President Obama’s program aimed at assisting the upward social mobility of young African-Americans.
During her stay in Cuba, the filmmaker screened her documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble at the Ludwig Foundation, among other places. The play explores the role of the late Congressman John Lewis in the American Civil Rights Movement.
The screenings were followed by discussions with Cuban filmmakers, artists, educators and businesswomen. In his interventions, Porter spoke about issues such as civil rights, diversity, inclusion and the Afro-diaspora in the hemisphere.
