A Different Image
A Different Image is a 1982 American film that was directed, written, and edited by Alile Sharon Larkin that explores body image and societal beauty standards through the eyes of a young Black woman on a journey towards self-worth.
Summary
Alana, an art student, explores sexuality, Western ideals of beauty, and her own self-worth in 1980's Los Angeles. Vincent, her long-time friend, feels pressured to turn their platonic relationship into a sexual one which further intensified Alana's frustration with western, patriarchal beauty standards and gender norms.Cast
- Margòt Saxton-Federella as Alana
- Michael Adisa Anderson as Vincent
Production
Creating a Different Image: Portrait of Alile Sharon Larkin is a 1989 documentary about the making of ''A Different Image''Reception
The film is considered as a groundbreaking foray into a realistic character portrait of a young Black woman. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times heralded it as "...extraordinary, a fresh and clear expression of an acute sensibility."Awards and recognition
- First Prize, Black American Cinema Society Award
- Official Selection, London Black Film Festival
- Best Production of 1981, Black Filmmaker Foundation
- Runner Up, Best Short Film, Filmex
- Official Selection, the 2011 L. A. Rebellion: Creating New Cinema
Screenings
- UCLA's L.A. Rebellion Film Series, UCLA Hammer Museum, 2011
- Madeline Anderson Shorts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2013
- Afterimage: Madeline Anderson, Berkeley [Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive|Berkeley Art Museum], 2016
- One Way or Another: Black Women's Cinema, 1970–1991, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2017
Preservation
The Black Film Center/Archive preserved A Different Image, which included 16mm original color reversal A/B rolls and full-coat magnetic track elements. They produced a 16mm color internegative, a soundtrack negative, and two new 16mm projection prints.The script of the film was published in a 1991 compilation of collected works called Screenplays of the African American Experience.