The Wexner Center of The Arts to host Bridgette Davis for a screening of her lone film “Naked Acts” 7 p.m. Friday followed by a Q+A. Credit: Courtesy of Milestone Films with Kino Lorber
Friday, the Wexner Center for the Arts is set to spotlight an overlooked film by Black filmmaker, screenwriter and director Bridgett Davis.
Davis will visit Ohio State 7 p.m. Friday for a screening of her 1996 film “Naked Acts,” according to the center’s website. The dramatic comedy follows an actress named Cicely (Jake-ann Jones), who lands a breakthrough role but struggles to perform a nude scene due to self-image issues stemming from childhood. After the showing, Davis will participate in a Q&A, the website states.
Dave Filipi, head of the center’s Film and Video Department, said a 4K restoration of the film was released in June 2023 by Milestone Films and garnered widespread notice, leading the center to organize Friday’s event.
“Milestone Films got together to bring this film that some people knew about, but the general public certainly did not know about, and do a restoration and bring it back to public attention,” Filipi said. “Since it’s been rereleased, it’s been getting a lot of great notices. For us at the Wexner Center, it’s spotlighting a voice that a lot of people don’t know much about.”
Davis, who has also worked as a journalist, said she first experimented with directing to improve her screenwriting skills. Still, she eventually decided the “Naked Acts” screenplay was one she simply needed to direct.
“I made a decision to learn filmmaking to make the screenplay better. Then, as the screenplay evolved, I was convinced that I needed to direct that story,” Davis said. “I didn’t think it would be safe in the hands of someone else, given the sensitivity of the subject matter and my vision for it.”
Davis began working on the project in her 20s; even so, she said her young age and relative inexperience never dissuaded her from tackling such a large task.
“I came of age in the ‘90s, a real blooming time for independent film,” Davis said. “All around me, people were making their own films, so I felt it was possible because I was seeing and reading about people who were doing it. It was a really exciting time in the culture for independent cinema.”
One notable obstacle Davis faced while working on “Naked Acts” was some collaborators’ opposition about having a female director, she said.
“I wasn’t necessarily prepared for being challenged as a woman director,” Davis said. “When that happened, I had to very quickly and clearly establish my authority and make sure that everyone knew that I had this under control, and I was in charge.”
Filipi said the film’s effective balance of dramatic moments and comedic relief makes it stand out.
“There is all of this highly emotionally charged material with these moments of levity mixed in,” Filipi said. “That’s what’s really smart about the writing because it would be a lot to take in if it was just one big emotional moment after another.”
Davis said when she started writing the film, she didn’t dwell on its exact genre.
“I didn’t even start out thinking I was writing something comedic, per se. Honestly, I just kept trying to be true, both to the characters and also to a world I knew and understood,” Davis said. “Maybe that has a lot to do with a very particular kind of experience in Black culture, where things are equal parts joyful and painful very often in life. You just learn to see both — to see the humor in a situation, even as you see the gravity and the levity of that.”
Davis said one creative decision came easily to her: She wanted to give the movie a conclusion that felt realistic, rather than a storybook-esque ending.
“I love an ending that is a bit open. I like the idea that film can create a sense of hope, and yet it doesn’t have to be tied up neatly with a bow,” Davis said. “I don’t believe in quote, unquote, ‘happy endings,’ per se. There’s a place for that in certain genre films, of course, but that didn’t feel true.”
Given the film’s newfound success and acclaim, Davis said she has been attending film festivals worldwide, a development that has pleasantly surprised her.
“I didn’t understand the scope — that it would have a full 4K restoration, and that it would premiere at international festivals,” Davis said. “I never imagined that it’d be shown at the Siskel Center in Chicago, [the] Detroit Institute of Arts or [the] Film Forum in New York City. I came to New York as a young woman watching films there, so that’s so amazing to me.”
Tickets for Friday’s screening and Q&A cost $8 for center members, $10 for members of the general public and $5 for college students. For more information about the event, including how to purchase tickets online, visit the center’s website.
This story was updated on Nov. 13 at 3:30 p.m. to include the correct name of the Chicago Siskel Center.
