Personal Problems

Cast and crew reunion and Q&A with Ishmael Reed, composer Carman Moore, producer Steve Cannon, Dr. Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, and Sam Waymon on February 7

“During the last decades, films about the black experience have been produced, directed, and even scripted by white men. Some of them are excellent. But most reflect George Bernard Shaw’s warning that 'if you do not tell your stories others will tell them for you and they will vulgarize and degrade you.'

“What happens when a group of unbankable individuals tell their stories? Actors who have final say over their speaking parts? A director who was found 'too difficult' for Hollywood? A composer who would not submit the hack soundtracks required by the industry? A black male lead who was not black enough? A black actress who was not light enough? An actor who had been retired because he belonged to another era? A cinematographer who chose art over expediency? An unmarketable co-actor who didn’t look like Clark Gable or a male version of Vanessa Williams? Two producers, having no experience, had the audacity to organize a production with the amount of money that Hollywood spends on catering? Maybe less.

“The result was Personal Problems, a meta–soap opera that has held audiences at Pacific Film Archives, the Georges Pompidou Center, the Whitney, and BAM. And now Lincoln Center audiences will be able to view a film that has been hanging around since 1980, while the big-budget films have come and gone.” —Ishmael Reed