Regina King: The First Black Female Director in Venice Film Festival

After starring in over ten TV shows and at least twenty-six movies, Regina King has shown how comfortable she is with her talents in front of a camera and is venturing into a different lane. Earlier this week at the Venice Film Festival, King made her directorial debut with her film One Night In Miami. It was an evening of firsts, not only for King, but also for the Venice Film Festival as well. Regina King is the first Black woman director to have her film selected and premiered by the Venice Film Festival after 87 consecutive years running.

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One Night in Miami is an adaptation of the play written by Kemp Powers that reimagines a meeting between the four major Black figures of 1964: Muhammed Ali, Malcom X, singer Sam Cooke, and then, NFL player Jim Brown. When speaking on the film during a virtual press conference King stated “There's so much talent out there—so many talented directors—so if 'One Night in Miami' gets it done here, you'll get to see a lot more of us.” King acknowledges the double standards that unfortunately come with the industry and her newest achievement. Knowing that One Night In Miami could either open or close doors for more Black women Directors has to be a heavy weight to bear.

“Unfortunately, across the world, that's how things seem to work. One woman gets a shot and if she does not succeed, it shuts things down for years until someone else gets a shot.”

-Regina King

There isn’t a lack of Black women who are Directors, Producers, or Writers - but there has been a lack of support for them in professional spaces, especially when awards are involved. With Regina King being the first in such a lucrative and elite film space, she has paved a way for more directors like her to come.