“As an African American woman video- and filmmaker who has been producing work for multiple decades, I feel a strong affinity for—and a sense of responsibility in—crafting images of African American women. I am interested in expanding our horizons as Americans and as women.”
About Zeinabu irene Davis
Zeinabu irene Davis is an independent filmmaker and Professor of Communication at the University of California, San Diego. She is comfortable working in narrative, experimental, and documentary genres. Her work is passionately concerned with the depiction of women of African descent.
A selection of her award-winning works includes a drama about a young enslaved girl, Mother of the River (1996); a love story set in Afro-Ohio, A Powerful Thang (1991), and an experimental psycho-spiritual journey of a woman with Cycles (1989). Her dramatic film Compensation (1999/2024) features two interrelated love stories that offer a view of Black Deaf culture. In December 2024, the film was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
In 2016, Zeinabu completed the documentary Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from Los Angeles (2016) won 7 awards, including both the Best Feature Documentary & Audience Award at BlackStar Film Festival.
Zeinabu’s most recent work is the dramatic short Pandemic Bread (2023) about a Filipino and Nigerian experience of COVID-19 set inside the ICU at the pandemic’s height. Screened in over 11 festivals, this short film also won the Audience Award at the 2024 San Diego Filipino Film Festival.
Zeinabu is currently working on a feature documentary entitled Stars of the Northern Sky, which tells the stories of enslaved abolitionist women of the North: Sojourner Truth, Phyllis Wheatley, and Marie Joseph Angélique.
NOW PLAYING
Click the poster to purchase tickets for a screening near you!
Compensation
Pandemic Bread
Spirits of Rebellion
A Powerful Thang
Cycles
Trumpastically Clora Bryant
Mother of the River
Crocodile Conspiracy
On the Road
Please join Zeinabu irene Davis in person at select events as part of the theatrical release of Compensation distributed by Janus Films.
Recent Press
2/20 The New York Times - “‘Compensation’ Review: Still Rebellious” NYT Critic’s Pick by Lisa Kennedy
2/20 The New Yorker - “The Theatrical Release of ‘Compensation’ is Cause for Celebration” by Richard Brody
2/19 The New York Sun - “A Restored Indie Film, 1999’s ‘Compensation’ Has Been Deemed ‘Culturally, Historically or Aesthetically Significant’” by Carlos Sousa
2/19 Reverse Shot - Conversation with Robert Daniels
2/10 Letterboxd - “Shelf Life” by Katie Rife
2/5 RogerEbert.com - “Female Filmmakers In Focus: Zeinabu irene Davis on “Compensation” by Marya E. Gates
1/29 IndieWire - “‘Compensation’ 4K Trailer: Zeinabu irene Davis’ Unreleased Film Is a Decades-Spanning Deaf Romance” by Samantha Bergeson
2024
12/17 Library of Congress - Compensation named to the National Film Registry for Preservation
12/13 Screen Slate - “Best Movies of 2024: First Viewings & Discoveries and Individual Ballots”
10/31 RogerEbert.com - “CIFF 2024: Compensation, The Spook Who Sat by the Door, Save the Children” by Cortlyn Kelly
9/28 The New Yorker - “What to See in the 2024 New York Film Festival’s First Week” by Richard Brody
9/27 The New York Times - “New York Film Festival Pitches Its Ever-Expanding, Global Tent” by Manohla Dargis
2.21 & 2.22
New York, NY
Film at Lincoln Center
2.28
Chicago, IL
The Gene Siskel Film Center
3.30
Washington, DC
AFI Theater and Cultural Center
4.4
Columbus, OH
Wexner Center for the Arts
4.6
Cleveland,
Cleveland Cinematique
2.23
New York, NY
Metrograph
3.23
Baltimore, MD
Parkway Theater
3.21
Toronto, ON
TIFF LIghtbox Theater
4.13
Detroit, MI
Detroit Institute of Arts
4.5
Akron, OH
Nightlight Theater
