In a letter to the board of directors of the Nashville Film Festival, the sponsor of the Annual Black Filmmaker Award for the past four year announced this week that she has withdrawn her support, stating executive director Sallie Mayne and artistic director, Brian Owens have disrespected her and the African American community she represents.
Ludwald Orren Pettipher Miller Perry, a prominent and well-respected community leader said Mayne and Owens have, “disregarded her advice, refused to allow her to participate or even preview various contenders for this year’s Best Black Filmmaker Award,” which she sponsors and which is presented in her name.
Miller Perry said, “In previous years, I’ve been given several films in the black filmmaker category and permitted to select the winner.”
She said she also recommended the documentary of Matthew Kennedy and Robert Churchwell which received her award.
Miller Perry said she and her husband, the late Dr. L.O.P Perry, worked diligently with all of their social and civic contacts in the African American community and assured them they were included in the festival after being ignored for nearly 35 years. She went on to say that African American attendance at the Nashville Film Festival has increased significantly each year due to the diligent support and outreach efforts on behalf of the festival by the Tennessee Tribune, a newspaper she publishes weekly in Nashville. For nearly a decade, Miller Perry has supported the festival with financial contributions and several weeks of free advertising and promotions. She said she began her support of the festival, “long before the black community was invited to participate.”
Miller Perry denies she is in conflict with any other Festival participants and said she “agrees and supports the goals of humanity and equality which should be guaranteed to everyone regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation.” However, she continued, “there is not a balanced approach to or appreciation for Nashville’s diverse cultural and ethnic composition by the festival.” She said, for example, there are no tributes or days that are dedicated to Native Americans or Asians.
Miller Perry said she vehemently opposes the procedure at the festival where Owens individually views and selects more than 200 film screenings each year. Many festivals have juries or committees that screen and then vote on which films will be shown during the festival in order to ensure diversity and avoid racial or cultural bias.
“Perhaps the board needs to reconsider its choice of festival administrators. They must find someone willing to consider the input of a broad range of cultural, religious, racial, and sexually diverse communities, rather than placing all the power in the hands of one person.”
