An inspirational life
CT documentarian’s ‘Mama Gloria,’ about a legendary Chicago trans activist, is now streaming
Hot on the heels of International Transgender Visibility Day March
31, the new documentary “Mama Gloria” by Connecticut filmmaker
Luchina Fisher is getting its broadcast debut this week, airing April 5
at 8 p.m. and April 6 at 1 and 9 a.m. as part of the 13th season of the “AfroPop” anthology
series on the World Channel cable channel.
Even better, “Mama Gloria,” which chronicles the inspirational life of Chicago-based transgender activist and erstwhile charm-school instructor Gloria Allen, will be streaming all year now on the World Channel’s website, worldchannel.org.
In a phone interview last week Fisher said “The World Channel is so important for me, It makes the film free and widely available. It’s special to the LGBTQ and trans communities.
‘Mama Gloria’ is kind of my baby. I’m the director, writer and producer.”
She began work on the documentary pre-COVID and luckily had enough footage when the shutdown happened to be able to finish it “from home” in New Fairfield, Connecticut, where she’s lived for 11 years.
While pitching the completed project to film festivals, the company Black Public Media (which on its website says it
“produces, funds, and distributes media content about the African American and global Black experience”) expressed interest, which led to the AfroPop series screening.
“Mama Gloria” began in 2018 when Fisher’s friend E. Patrick Johnson, dean of the School of Communication at Northwestern University, showed her a Chicago Tribune article about Chicago trans activist Gloria Allen. “She was looking for someone to write her autobiography at the time, but I thought it would be a good documentary.” Fisher was able to visit Chicago soon after with her teen daughter Gia Parr, a national LGBTQ advocate who was speaking at a conference for trans youth.
“My daughter is definitely my inspiration,” Fisher says. She sees family as crucial to Allen’s life as well. “When I read her story, I saw how much her mother and grandmother taught her. That love has carried Gloria
USJ’s Department of Social Work.
The April 15 feature is ”Antonia Pantoja: ¡Presente!,” about the first Puerto Rican woman to receive the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. Pantoja founded several nonprofit organizations, including ASPIRA and Producir. The screening will include shorts by Puerto Rican filmmaker
Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi. The post-screening panel will include Jacobs-Fantauzzi and “Antonia Pantoja: ¡Presente!” director Lilian Jimenez plus Hartford City Councilwoman Wildaliz Bermudez.
The April 22 screening is “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” which explores the tragedy of the 14-year-old Black murder victim. The film led to the reopening of the investigation into Till’s murder 50 years after his death. “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till” won the 2005 Freedom of Expression Award from National Board of Review. The panel discussion includes director Keith Beauchamp, Correa, State Sen. Gary Winfield and moderator Patricia Virella of Sarah Lawrence College.
Admission to the Civil Rights film festival is free but tickets are required. autorino.usj.edu.