Part of Restoration Roundup
Cicely’s mom was a Blaxploitation icon akin to Pam Grier or Tamara Dobson, which means Cicely grew up on film sets. With painful memories of those days, it’s a surprise that 20-something Cicely chooses to follow in her mother’s path and become an actress. Her estranged mother sure isn’t happy when Cece — who’s recently shed 57 pounds – shows up to her video store one night to talk about her future.
Cicely has no interest in the dubious movies of her mother’s career. She’s been cast in a low budget arthouse film — which comes with its own set of challenges, including a nude scene. Trash or art, in the end the problems remain the same. Cicely embarks on a battle of wits with the writer/producer to modify her character’s arc and thus remain fully clothed. In the end, she’ll need to confront her body image issues, her fraught relationship with her mother, and her own troubled childhood to carve out her own identity as a woman.
The cinematic daughter of filmmaker Kathleen Collins (whose pioneering work LOSING GROUND inspired Bridgett Davis to direct her sole fiction feature), Davis encountered multiple challenges while releasing NAKED ACTS in the mid 90’s. Without finding a receptive distributor, Davis decided to take things into her own hands — distributing and promoting the film herself. NAKED ACTS enjoyed relative success in the alternative festival and theatrical circuit, but remained one of the criminally under-seen “most influential Black films.” NAKED ACTS features brilliant acting by leads Jake-ann Jones and the late Ron Cephas Jones (This is Us), in his only romantic lead.
NAKED ACTS has been digitally restored and remastered by Lightbox Film Center in collaboration with Milestone Films. This 2023 restoration is from the 16mm a/b rolls preserved at the Indiana University Black Film Center & Archive. Restoration and release with creative consultation by Maya Cade, creator of the Black Film Archive.
“It is triumphant, jarring and pulls its audience into an intimate storyline that demands to be witnessed…. The 1996 newly restored film, feels fresh and revitalizing as it molds generational victory through its thoughtful storyline and immaculate casting.” —Niani Scott, rogerebert.com “A real discovery. An exploration of Black female sexuality and identity and the struggles to live a creative life, told through the story of an actor grappling with whether to perform a nude scene.” —Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times “Fresh, funny and original...NAKED ACTS is one pic people will be falling over one another to claim they have discovered.” —Daniel M. Kimmel, Variety
