Harryette Mullen

Cinema of the Oppressed: An Interview with Francisco Newman

Independent filmmaker Francisco Newman began his career as a journalist at KQED Public Television in San Francisco. His films include Staggerlee: A Conversation with Bobby Seale, Leader of the Black Panther Party (1970); Ain’t Nobody Slick (1972) featuring Angela Davis; and Virgin Again (2000), a retelling of New Testament gospel set in contemporary Los Angeles, with an African-American Christ, a Latina Mary Magdalene, and a feminist perspective on religion and sin. As Adjunct Professor of Film Studies at Chapman University, Newman taught “History of Documentary Film,” “History of African-American Cinema,” and “Film Production and Cultural Heritage.” He is also the eponymous hero of Francisco, the novel written by his wife, Alison Mills Newman, and published in 1974 by Reed, Cannon, and Johnson. Francisco and Alison are the parents of five children. Harryette Mullen interviewed Francisco Newman in Los Angeles on August 15, 2002. Francisco Newman died May 22, 2003.