Cheryl Dunye builds space for Black queer cinema

""I've always worked in the space where identity gets complicated," she says. "That's not new for me. What's new is the scale of it.""

"The annual awards since 2021 recognize four artists whose work is grounded in the Bay Area, emphasizes community and pushes beyond expected boundaries in the arts field. The unrestricted $100,000 grant comes with additional marketing, legal and financial planning support. Fellows are nominated by Bay Area artists; the winners selected by national reviewers and a panel of four local jurors."

"With her work centered on race, gender and sexuality, Dunye quickly received attention as part of a "Queer New Wave" of young filmmakers in the early 1990s. Her first feature film, Watermelon Woman, earned considerable critical acclaim, including winning the Teddy Award for Best Feature at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival."

"After springing out of the gate early in her career, Dunye's forward momentum accelerated. This resulted in awards, fellowships, residencies and having her work presented in the 1993 Biennial Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art and at subsequent festivals in San Francisco, New York, Melbourne and Berlin. In addition to several independent films, Dunye has directed episodes of television series such as Queen Sugar, Dear White People, Bridgerton, Lovecraft Country and The Hunting Wives."

Cheryl Dunye, a Liberian-American filmmaker based in Oakland, focuses on Black queer identity, history, and culture. She describes working in spaces where identity becomes complicated and notes that the scale of that complexity is new. She is a 2026 Rainin Arts Fellowship recipient from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, which awards four Bay Area artists grounded in community and beyond expected arts boundaries. The fellowship provides an unrestricted $100,000 grant plus marketing, legal, and financial planning support. Dunye’s background includes being born in Monrovia, growing up in Philadelphia, earning degrees from Temple University and Rutgers. Her early acclaim came with Watermelon Woman, which won the Teddy Award at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival. She has since directed film and television, including Queen Sugar and Dear White People.

Read at East Bay Express | Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda