Allie Light

History

Winner of the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the 1994 National Emmy Award for best interview program, Allie Light writes, directs and produces documentary films with her partner, Irving Saraf. Her credits include: Rachel’s Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer (HBO), Dialogues With Madwomen (Emmy Award; Freedom of Expression Award, Sundance Film Festival); In The Shadow Of The Stars (Academy Award); Mitsuye and Nellie, Asian American Poets; Visions of Paradise (five films about folk artists); Shakespeare’s Children (produced by Kate Kline May); Blind Spot: Murder by Women; Children and Asthma and Good Food, Bad Food, Obesity in American Children (programs about children’s health & the environment); An Iraqi Lullaby and The Sermons of Sister Jane, and Believing the Unbelievable. Her most recent work is Empress Hotel, released in 2009. Allie has published a book of poems, The Glittering Cave and edited an anthology of women’s writings, Poetry From Violence. Her essays appear in publications about women. Ms. Light lectured in film at City College of San Francisco and, for ten years, in the Women Studies Program at San Francisco State University. Her life story appears in On Women Turning 50, Celebrating Mid-Life Discoveries, by Cathleen Rountree (Harper/Collins, 1993), and interviews with Allie are in Film Fatales: Independent Women Directors, by Judith M. Redding & Victoria A. Brownworth (Seal Press, 1997) and Documentary Filmmakers Speak by Liz Stubbs (Allworth Press, 2002). Allie has served on the Media Advisory Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Movies

The Sermons of Sister Jane: Believing the Unbelievable
The Sermons of Sister Jane: Believing the Unbelievable
Director
When Sister Jane Kelly discovers sexual molestation and thievery, she carries her battle all the way to Rome creating a scandal; this leads her to debunk church teachings on birth control, homosexuality, married priests and virgin birth and become a champion for the poor. Her courage, wit and humanity shine throughout the film.
Dialogues with Madwomen
Dialogues with Madwomen
Director
A documentary about bipolar disorder.
In the Shadow of the Stars
In the Shadow of the Stars
Director
A hilarious and affectionate look at the path to stardom inside the competitive world of opera. Filmmakers Allie Light and Irving Saraf relegate the divas to the background and focus on a limelight-craving group of "choristers" -- the seldom-noticed singers who stand behind the soloists portraying peasants, soldiers and slaves.
The Angel That Stands By Me
The Angel That Stands By Me
Director
Minnie Evans is the embodiment of the visionary artist. She is an African American painter of Wilmington, N.C., who has created a world of mythical animals, religious symbols and natural beauty. The film explores the sources of Minnie Evans' art--Airlie Garden, with its magnificent azaleas and swans, where Minnie worked as a gate keeper for 27 years and where she did most of her paintings. Angel That Stands By Me is part of the "Visions of Paradise" series on contemporary folk artists directed and produced by Irving Saraf and Allie Light.
The Angel That Stands By Me
The Angel That Stands By Me
Editor
Minnie Evans is the embodiment of the visionary artist. She is an African American painter of Wilmington, N.C., who has created a world of mythical animals, religious symbols and natural beauty. The film explores the sources of Minnie Evans' art--Airlie Garden, with its magnificent azaleas and swans, where Minnie worked as a gate keeper for 27 years and where she did most of her paintings. Angel That Stands By Me is part of the "Visions of Paradise" series on contemporary folk artists directed and produced by Irving Saraf and Allie Light.
The Angel That Stands By Me
The Angel That Stands By Me
Producer
Minnie Evans is the embodiment of the visionary artist. She is an African American painter of Wilmington, N.C., who has created a world of mythical animals, religious symbols and natural beauty. The film explores the sources of Minnie Evans' art--Airlie Garden, with its magnificent azaleas and swans, where Minnie worked as a gate keeper for 27 years and where she did most of her paintings. Angel That Stands By Me is part of the "Visions of Paradise" series on contemporary folk artists directed and produced by Irving Saraf and Allie Light.
Possum Trot - The Life and Work of Calvin Black 1903-1972
Possum Trot - The Life and Work of Calvin Black 1903-1972
Director
Calvin Black was a folk artist who lived in California's Mojave Desert and created more than 80 life-size female dolls, each with its own personality, function, and costume. He also built the "Bird Cage Theater," where the dolls perform and sing in voices recorded by the artist. The film works on two levels. One is the documentation of the artist's legacy and commentary on women: grotesque female figures moving in the desert wind and the theater with its frozen "actresses," protected by his widow from a world she views as hostile. The other is the re-creation of the artist's vision through the magic of film, as the camera enables the dolls to move and sing and brings theater to life as the artist imagined it.