USA

Yvonne Smith, a producer, director, and writer, has in-depth experience documenting political, social, and cultural history, bringing her unique cultural honesty to bear on films about the prime movers and shapers of the African American experience. She is best known for her films Mo' Funny: Black Comedy in America (1993), Motown 40: The Music Is Forever (1998) and Adam Clayton Powell (1989). Her work has resulted in Emmy nominations along with winning a Peabody Award for her series, Rock and Roll. Smith’s film about the controversial congressman Adam Clayton Powell, which she produced with Richard Kilberg for PBS’s The American Experience, was nominated for an Academy Award and awarded the Eric Barnouw Prize by the Organization of American Historians, the National Educational Film and Video Festival’s Best of Festival prize, the CINE Golden Eagle, and the Ohio State Award.

Filmography

The Gospel at Colonus (1985)
Miles Ahead: The Music of Miles Davis (1986)
Adam Clayton Powell (1989)
Ray Charles: The Genius of Soul (1992)
Mo’ Funny: Black Comedy In America (1993)
Discovering Women (1994)
Motown 40: The Music Is Forever (1998)
Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove (2005)