Tiny Mabry
Last year, writer and director Tina Mabry made her feature directorial debut with the film Mississippi Damned, the heartbreaking story of three poor, black kids from the South who struggle to escape their family’s cycle of abuse. The film won an impressive 11 awards, including the nod for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature at Outfest 2009. “I quickly found that films representing my community and experiences were rare. I thought that mainstream cinema would evolve and showcase a range of truly diverse stories, but it didn’t,” Mabry says. “Finally, I realized that I should stop waiting for someone else to take on the challenge; I could give my community, as well as other marginalized groups, the voice in cinema we deserve.” Before Mississippi Damned, Mabry co-wrote the screenplay for the critically acclaimed film Itty Bitty Titty Committee, directed by Jamie Babbit, with which she won Best Feature Narrative at the South by Southwest Film and Music Festival in 2007. Mabry was also named one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film in Filmmaker Magazine. -EZ
