 |
|
 |

Lip
1999, 10 minutes, Color, VHS/DVD
Order No. W00641
It is Hollywood’s favorite role for black women: the maid. Sassy or sweet, snickeringly attentive or flippantly dismissive, the performers who play them steal every scene they are in, and Tracy Moffatt’s entertaining video collage reveals the narrow margin Hollywood has allowed black actresses to shine in. But shine they do. Giving lip is proven an art form in these scenes from 1930’s cinema to present-day movies featuring a remarkable roster of undervalued actresses and their more celebrated white costars. Moffatt and Hillberg’s rough, no-budget assembly effectively highlights with familiarity and humor the disturbing realization of how black characters and white characters still interact on screen, under Hollywood’s eternally backwards eye.
AWARDS, FESTIVALS, & SCREENINGS

- Chicago Filmmakers FF
- Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta
back to top
QUOTES

"Maims melodrama forever, excising the hidden history of Hollywood's
phantasm of white female stars served by black women extras. Mandatory for any cinema studies class."
Patricia Zimmermann
Ithaca College
"Tracy Moffatt's work delivers a bite that is almost imperceptible, until you realize long after seeing it that she has somehow altered your way of thinking."
Robert Byrd
Jerome Foundation
"'Lip' is a clever to brilliant rapid montage of scenes from Hollywood movies... these off-hand moments are biting criticism of racial stereotypes and, simultaneously, demonstrate that these wise-cracking maids were nobody's fool."
Patricia Mellencamp
University of Wisconsin
back to top
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|

|
 |
 |
|
Sign up to get our monthly newsletter delivered by email.

You'll get the latest info on WMM films, filmmakers, new releases and worldwide events.
Read the current issue and subscribe!
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Native Visions: Through the Eyes of Indigenous Women
This powerful collection of native voices features two films from the
acclaimed Mohawk director Tracey Deer including CLUB NATIVE
and the coming-of-age documentary MOHAWK GIRLS. Also included is the
critical and heartbreaking tale of aboriginal femicide FINDING DAWN, as
well as the spirited and vibrant Southwestern artists’ film, THE DESERT IS
NO LADY, and the highly provocative identity piece NAVAJO TALKING PICTURE.
More details.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|