In honor of Women’s History Month, NYWIFT looks back at some of the remarkable women who have shaped the film, television and digital media industries through the decades.
By Kathryn O’Kane
Jessie Maple is a filmmaker. She’s also a director, editor, producer, writer, cinematographer, and pioneer.
Maple is the first black woman to join the union of International Photographers of Motion Picture & Television (IATSE) in New York. Her book, How to Become a Union Camerawoman, is an instructional guide illustrating the obstacles that she endured to get into the union. It details the court case she initiated to fight discrimination after she became a member.
It’s also insight into Maple’s MO. When she wanted to make films to counter negative representation of African Americans in movies, she left her job as a lab bacteriologist and took filmmaking classes at WNET and Third World Cinema. She and her husband started a production company. Her film Will (1981) about a basketball coach trying to kick a drug habit was one of the first feature-length films by a black woman in the post-civil rights era. Needing a venue to premiere the film, she founded 20 West, Home of Black Cinema in Harlem as a venue to show films by independent and black filmmakers to the public.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Maple said, “You can’t stop progress. You can hold it up for a minute, but you can’t stop it. Some people have asked, aren’t you angry that you had to go through all that? And I said no, I made money, and I had fun. So why would I be angry? You don’t get anything unless you pay a price for it.”
Will was restored and preserved by NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund.
busyk
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Sun Roller
Welcome to NYWIFT, Sun Roller! Sun Roller is a Chickasaw creative and producer raised in Oklahoma and based in New York City. With a career spanning production design, art direction, project management, and large-scale leadership, Sun Roller brings a deeply intentional, intuitive approach to every project she touches—grounded in spirituality, connection to nature, and collaboration. Sun Roller has worked across film and television on projects including Reservation Dogs, I Saw the TV Glow, Poker Face and The Lowdown. In recent years, she has expanded her work into producing, with a focus on Indigenous-led stories and community-centered narratives. When she’s not on set or behind a computer, Sun Roller can often be found outdoors soaking up the Sun and enjoying time in nature with her elder pup, Wrigley, and her partner, Annie H. In our interview, Sun Roller reflects on her path into film and television, building a career across male-dominated industries, and the stories she’s most excited to bring to the screen next.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Yossera Bouchtia
Welcome to NYWIFT, Yossera Bouchtia! Yossera Bouchtia is an award-winning filmmaker and educator whose work explores memory, experimental storytelling, and the experience of the sublime. Her films span genres including magical realism, neorealism, biopics, drama, and experimental films. Drawing on her Moroccan-American upbringing, her storytelling bridges East and West, amplifying unheard voices and shedding light on unseen truths. Bouchtia approaches storytelling as a practice of being – an invitation into consciousness, attention, witnessing, and deeper presence. She holds an M.F.A. in Film Directing from Columbia University and she is currently Associate Professor and Program Director of Cinema at VCU School of the Arts.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Sarah Friedland
Welcome to NYWIFT, Sarah Friedland! Sarah Friedland is a filmmaker and choreographer working at the intersection of moving images and moving bodies. Friedland’s debut feature film, Familiar Touch, earned critical acclaim at the Venice International Film Festival last year, where she received both the Lion of the Future/Best Debut Film and the Horizons Award for Best Director. On the heels of her success at Venice, she won an Independent Spirit Award (“Someone to Watch”) and has since been nominated for two Gotham Awards (Breakthrough Director and Best Feature) and another Film Independent Spirit Award (John Cassavetes Award).
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Ida Elina
Welcome, Ida Edina, to NYWIFT! Ida is a multi-hyphenate singer-songwriter, composer, and filmmaker who started playing the Finnish harp at 13. She brands herself as a modern pop kantele queen from the nordics. Ida truly is an ethnomusicologist obsessed with the ancient Kalevala poems of her homeland. Her work currently has over three million views on her YouTube channel. Ida's award-winning short film, Under the Northern Skies, is a journey through her 13-song album that combines original music with an audiovisual concert experience. It premiered in Finland in February 2025. Read on to learn more about Ida's art and her dreams for the year ahead.
READ MORE
2 Comments
Oswaldo Jimenez
Greetings… Newsday Media Group on Long Island would like to know if you have a photograph of Jessie Maple you could license or share to accompany her obituary. We have a daily deadline of 7 pm EST. IF possible please send a photo to Oswaldo.Jimenez@newsday.com Regards, Oswaldo Jimenes / Newsday Photo editor. 631-843-2833