Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kennedy Dunning . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kennedy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

When adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said a racecar driver. Growing up in Indiana, the Indy 500 was a short drive from my house. And what kid doesn’t want to go fast? This wasn’t surprising. I also had a backup plan, which wasn’t surprising for a Midwestern child either. But what surprised them was that my backup was to take pictures for the yellow magazine. My parents would explain: a photographer for National Geographic. I can see their faces now in awe over the optimistic mind of a child. And I can remember how I felt, deeply, irrefutably, confused. What kid…what person didn’t want to travel the world, explore the unknown, and have cool stories to tell with pictures to prove it? Those dreams seemed too big for those grown-ups but not me. I wanted an extraordinary life and if I wasn’t going to drive fast, I was going to live fast for a living. Does that make sense? Grown-ups sometimes still don’t understand me now.

I am still that kid with hopes, dreams, and backup plans. I’m still the storyteller who wants to see the world and have fun while doing it. But as I’ve grown, I’ve become a young woman who wants to help other people with the tools given to me. My longing to help through storytelling came from my high school experience. I was the artsy Black feminist who wore loud clothing and had loud opinions (according to my history teacher). So, I decided to get quieter. Pull my hair back. Put my hand down. I thought it was easier to observe than to speak. Observe the racist comments, sexist gestures, and classist implications. It was easier to let them think they weren’t hurting me. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel anything. I felt it all once I got home. So, what did I turn to when I felt that no one wanted to hear me? Video diaries. I spilled out my soul to my camera. I told my story, and this was my saving grace. I believed this girl on the screen who spoke unapologetically about her life, her worries, and her dreams. Then I thought, who else thinks like this? Who else wants the world to be better in the same way I do? Consequently, I began to watch films and read books created by radical thinkers like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Howard Zinn, etc. I was electrified with the possibility of storytelling. I was amazed at what these people made and how much they cared about others through their creations. I wanted to be like them, but how? I thought about those video diaries and the girl I was before I made them. I thought about others who needed videos like that, who needed films to see themselves in, who needed to see that life could be good.

After graduation, I knew I was going to be a documentary filmmaker and if that didn’t work, I was going to help people with art in any way I could. I always have a backup plan.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Kennedy is a senior Documentary Filmmaking major, minoring in Comparative Women’s Studies at Spelman College. She directs documentaries and narratives. Her style can be expository or poetic. Her subjects explore The South, girlhood, isolation, imagination, and more. In 2020, at the pandemic’s peak, Kennedy directed a microfilm that follows the life of a girl trapped in isolation, titled The Suburban Princess which was selected for The Morehouse Human Rights Film Festival. Kennedy pitched her passion project, a full-length feature film called The Hallway, at the MACRO x Beats by Dre Pitch Competition. She won the competition and attended Sundance 2022 to push her film further. The Hallway follows four Black girls coming of age in their predominantly white high school. Through sisterhood and unapologetic expression, these girls learn what it means to be young, Black, and free. I find it extraordinary that a film like The Hallway has never been done before. I find it astonishing that Black girls are never center stage in coming-of-age films. But I suppose that speaks to who is currently behind the camera and what stories they view as important. In my films, I want to give voice to the voiceless. I want my films to be the stage and my stories to be the microphone, projecting progress and joy for all to hear. Kennedy’s film How Hair You!, a short comedy film that investigates the history of body hair in the United States, won Best Picture at The Green Screen Project 2022 Film Festival and was selected for the 2022 BronzeLens Film Festival.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I was seven years old and my mom wanted to watch an old movie she rented from blockbuster. (Yes, I remember those beautiful havens!) The movie was The Wiz, starring Diana Ross, Lena Horne, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, and several other icons. But between you and me, the women were the true standouts. Within the first few glances of Mrs. Ross as the young Dorothy and Mrs. Horne as the wise ethereal Glinda, I was entranced. With each word and gesture they made, they reveal themselves to not be fictional characters but real people I knew. Dorothy was me, my sisters, my cousins, and my friends. Black girls with big dreams and hopes who felt scared by the daunting world around them to bring them to fruition. Glinda was my mom, my grandmother, my aunties, and my teachers. Black women who wholeheartedly knew the power they possessed as individuals and encouraged those around them to access that power and do something with it. As Glinda sang “Believe in Yourself” to Dorothy, I cried in my mom’s arms. At that very moment, I knew I was going to create films so I make people feel like how I did then: powerful, purposeful, capable, and magical.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Just ew.

Contact Info:

• Website: kennedydunning.squarespace.com
• Instagram: @directed_by_kennedy_dunning
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennedy-dunning-b316a5222/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ8V7Iat-IOmFGDgD4WQGGg?app=desktop