Debra Robinson’s Newly Restored Films — KISS GRANDMAMA GOODBYE and I BE DONE BEEN WAS IS — Set to Premiere at BAM

April 24th, 7:00PM screening followed by Q&A with filmmaker Debra Robinson.

[Brooklyn, NY — April 15, 2024] — Debra Robinson’s touching coming of age drama Grandmama Goodbye (1980)and her beloved documentary about black women in comedy, I Be Done Been Was Is (1984)will screen on April 24th, 2024, at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) with the filmmaker in attendance.

A midwestern African-American community during the early 1960s provides the background for Kiss Grandmama Goodbyeas a ten-year-old girl, Gail, resolves the death of her good friend and mentor… Grandmama. The script was adapted from a short story by Terry McMillan. This early work of Robinson’s tenderly explores multigenerational relationships and addresses the lives of Black people living in the Midwest before widespread integration. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive and the Women’s Film Preservation Fund of New York Women in Film & Television.

In her feature debut, I Be Done Been Was Is Robinson follows iconic black women comedians including Marsha Warfield, Rhonda Hansome, Alice Arthur and Jane Galvin James as they navigate the male dominated stand-up industry and deal with the stereotypes surrounding them as African-American women comedians. Robinson remembers, “During the time I developed the idea, I was working out my path as an African-American woman filmmaker. The road seemed to be one of pioneering and invention. Through the documentary, I was able to find my voice, and the comediennes collectively expressed my perceptions when they spoke about their lives.” Digitally restored by the Academy Film Archive.

Originally published at http://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on April 16, 2024.