A Legacy of Image Making — Jessie Maple, Director, DoP, and Editor
In an effort to discover my voice outside of Cinematography and to connect with my roots, I am going to start a series of profile essays that share the legacies of image makers that look like me. My objective with this series is to develop my voice as a writer, occupy my free time between shoots, and to share important figures that, at least, I, myself feel are important to know in this industry of film and media production.
“The first African-American woman to direct an independent feature film in the post-civil rights era.”
Jessie Maple Patton, better known as, Jessie Maple was born in Louisiana on February 14, 1937. Soon moving to countryside of Mississippi, Jessie grew up with an innate determination and drive to become whatever she desired despite the obstacles placed before her. If she seen a vision for herself in her mind, she would focus on making that vision come to fruition, never accepting no as an answer.
In early career, Jessie worked as a Lab Technician in Bacteriology, then Journalism, writing for the New York Courier, and settling into her calling, as a filmmaker in the 1970’s and 80’s. She become “the first and only in Cinematographer’s Local 644” at the age of 29, after fighting a number of legal battles that she shares in her autobiography, “How to Become a Union Camerawoman.” Jessie Maple was a standing member of both the Cinematographer’s and Editor’s Unions.
In partnership and collaboration with her husband, Leroy Patton, Jessie led in the direction of two feature length films, Will (1981), and Twice As Nice (1989). The powerhouse couple as owned and operated 20 West, Home of Black Cinema in Harlem, which screened black, independently made films after seeing a need for their own films.
Jessie Maple is a pioneer in the film, journalism and media industries, following her heart and never accepting no as an answer. She has accomplished many firsts not only as an African-American but as a woman. She left us with her vision, that she aimed to tell stories that represented and uplifted her beloved home of Harlem, NY. Jessie Maple passed away on the 30th of May in 2023.
Filmography
Director
Twice as Nice (1989) - the relationship of twin college basketball players—to examine the nature of sisterhood, competition, and friendship.
Will (1981) - Will is a former college basketball star, without a job and struggling to get off heroin, who cares for a youth whom his friends want to get hooked.
“Making the kinds of films we started out to make, we always was very interested in the neighborhood, and doing things in our neighborhood, and using the resources in our neighborhood. You can see from the credits, you know, there was the Y, there was a lot of things in Harlem that we use, because the people encourage us to do this and they supported us. So, we always wanted to show what was going on in our community because we walk through our community every day, we saw garbage here and garbage there and ruined buildings here, we couldn’t understand why all this is going on. And so we said well let’s make a film about these things, and we did that. and that’s what we continue to do, is to use our community because we love the place where we live and respect the people in them.”
“Be blessed. Hug the hugless, love the loveless. Feed the hungry, help the helpless. Encourage the sad and always give an encouraging word.”
Filmmaker Jessie Maple, who was part of a wave of trailblazing Black female directors in the 1970s and '80s. (Black Film Center & Archive at Indiana University)
