Licensing U People the Film

LICENSING

We want to make U People available to as many audiences as possible.

UNIVERSITY SCREENINGS

U People has been utilized to stimulate discourse in university classrooms across departments in the humanities: sociology, anthropology, film studies, English, gender studies and African/African-American Studies. Library Purchase Order here.

Hanifah Walidah, director and producer is also available to engage students with lecture and talkback. All inquiries here.

FESTIVAL SCREENING

U People has received standing ovations and stunning reactions from audience members across race and gender.

If you are interested in screening U People at your festival the process please inquire here.

DISTRIBUTOR ACQUISITIONS

All inquires for international and domestic distribution should be made through this site.

U People is currently non-exclusively distributed and streamed online at buskfilms.com and bigstar.tv

Simone Zeefuik

- Writer, cultural critic and community organizer

Let me know if this is too long or too short, Sis. U People is a roaring, cinematic testimony to the importance of not only claiming but also properly documenting our narratives. It’s an eye-opener for everybody who didn’t see us and for every time we did not see ourselves. And who better to describe us but us? Every director can love us but can they live us? Hanifah Walidah and Olive Demetrius both captured and set free our everythings in a way that will forever be miles ahead of our appreciation. I’m sure my Amsterdam and Rotterdam Sisters don’t mind me speaking for them when I thank you for the change you brought to our lives. Forever U(r) People,

TESTIMONIALS

Tiq Milan

- Writer and Activist

U People was magic. I remember fondly the sisterhood that was created on the set of video and the open honesty during the individual interviews. It was bittersweet because I knew that as I transitioned physically, I would have to transition socially and my relationship to these beautiful queer women of color would change. Now, as their brother, I sit outside of the lesbian and queer collective with nothing but love and admiration for everyone involved in the project. I made some solid friendships and created an amazing support system among these women. U People was a huge part of my life and I was so blessed to be a part of it.

Yvonne Welbon

- The New Black (NewBlackFIlm.com)

I first heard about this project via a forwarded email with "HELP" shouting in all caps in the subject line. Hanifah Walidah was seeking photographs of black lesbians from the 1930s-1980s to include in her music video that was going to be aired on a recently launched queer channel called LOGO.

Hanifah ended up sampling a range of images from my film Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100. The images, primarily shot in Super 8 film, were recreations based on photographs from the house parties held in the Detroit home of Ruth Ellis in the 1950s. I didn't have permission to use the actual photographs because many of those pictured were never "out." But, I was able to use the photographs as references to create images to bring Ruth Ellis' stories of the parties in her home to life.

What is extraordinary about U People is that the filmmakers have created a document of the lives of black lesbians who are "out" and candid in sharing the stories of their lives. To my knowledge this is truly a rare document of the lives of black lesbian artists in particular and of black lesbians in general and their friends that love and support them. Fifty years after the gatherings at Ruth Ellis' home the party continues.

U People takes viewers behind the scenes to witness the creation of work by and about black lesbians. The film challenges notions of what it means to be black and gay. It is emotional, provocative and humorous. And spoiler alert! it ends with a great music video by one of the most talented artists of our time. What began as the documentation of a music video became a documentary, a web series and now an archive of black lesbian lives in Brooklyn, New York circa 2008.