U-M Creative Currents

Black Film Society: Lauren Horne

• Arts Initiative • Season 2 • Episode 3

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Tune in now for an inspiring conversation with U-M student Lauren Horne, a rising senior majoring in film and screenwriting in LSA's Department of Film, Television, and Media. As the co-president of the Black Film Society and a multifaceted artist, Lauren shares her journey from small-town Georgia to becoming a leader in Michigan's campus arts community.

In this episode, we explore:

Discover how the arts are empowering students, fostering community, and amplifying diverse voices at the University of Michigan. Whether you're a film enthusiast, aspiring artist, or simply curious about campus culture, this episode offers valuable insights into the transformative power of creativity in higher education.

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Mark Clague:

Today on Creative Currents, we'll explore the role of the arts in the lives of our Michigan students. Not only our arts majors, but our students really from across the entire campus who are making arts a vital part of their educational experience, a part of their growth as learners, as thinkers, and as people. Our guest is Lauren Horn, who is a rising senior majoring in film and screenwriting in LSA's Department of Film, Television, and Media. She is a writer and performer who comes to Michigan from a small town in Georgia and who has become a leader in our campus arts community. She serves as co-president of the Black Film Society, which is a student organization that hosts film screenings, meetings, and discussions about Black people from around the world in the entertainment industry and screen culture generally. Lauren, welcome to Creative Currents.

Lauren Horne:

Thank Thank you, Mark, for having me.

Mark Clague:

No, it's great to have you here. So tell us about the Black Film Society, like how it came to be, who are your members, its mission, activities.

Lauren Horne:

Yes, of course. Black Film Society was created in 2020. So everything started off on Zoom. Like, I think it was like five or six FTVM, Black FTVM students that started it. And it was just a necessary space, I think, at the time for students to black students specifically to talk about film and what was going on in the industry at the time and how I think like just everything that was going on like politically was affecting the film industry and how black people felt safe and heard in the industry and the stories that were being told at the time and I did my first I guess round of co-president this last year my junior year and it's been great we've been growing our membership and trying to revamp the club transition from zoom to in person and you know gauging interest within our community so

Mark Clague:

yeah it's amazing how zoom has changed our lives yes certain things like imperative and of course that 2020 was a reckoning for all sorts of reasons i mean we just had the anniversary of george floyd's killing and so was this was the black film society formed right after that or right before

Lauren Horne:

honestly that i do not know i wasn't here yet So you

Mark Clague:

started in

Lauren Horne:

that

Mark Clague:

fall?

Lauren Horne:

I kind of got the courage to ask him if they were wearing a shirt. And I was like, wait, what is this? And I went to the first couple meetings, but I wasn't as diligent as I should have. So I was like, okay, the end of sophomore year, I talked to the president at the time. And I was like, hey, I really want to get more active, understand this club, support it. Because as one of the few black film majors, I was like, I feel like maybe I would have something to say in that realm. And yeah, and I reached out to them. And like over the summer, I became the co-president with Brooklyn Bates is my other co-president. She's an FTVM as well. And yeah, and we just worked over the summer and kind of started planning out what to do for this upcoming school year. And I think most of it, you know, came into fruition. And it's been going well. And I feel like we definitely have grown our membership and cemented ourselves within the Black or in our community, so.

Mark Clague:

So tell us about like some of the films you've shown and maybe some of the, like what kind of activities or discussions, like how do the themes come out and how does that, like describe one of those meetings to me?

Lauren Horne:

Yeah, so like we try to like, you know, stay hip with pop culture things that's going on at the time. We've talked about like black horror, like we did a screening of like Get Out before and talked about how black people exist in that realm of horror, you know, and writers such as Jordan Peele and things like that and most of the discussions were just about like really interesting about how black trauma can be like used in horror films and not even just horror films by black people but other horror films that have black characters and things like that so those are really interesting conversations we've talked about like the black sitcom the transition to like something like the Cosby show to like Black-ish and how those compare if they do at all. And those are really interesting conversations. And we kind of just end up doing like, you know, like a little round table kind of situation, just making sure everyone feels heard and everyone has very passionate opinions about those things. So it's always fun.

Mark Clague:

So I heard that the Black Film Society just went to the Charles Wright Museum in Detroit with our friends at the Arts Initiative, the Art at a program tell me tell me about that because I think it connects to Black Panther

Lauren Horne:

no it definitely does yeah so a group of us we went down to the Wright Museum that was my first time there and the standout exhibit was definitely the Ruthie Carter Afrofuturism and costume exhibit and that was really cool like classic movies like do the right thing of course like Black Panther as well but Malcolm X and it was cool to like read about like the process and like The intention that goes into, like, even the fabric that Ruthie Carter used to create these costumes, it was really cool. And, yeah, it was emotional, too. I don't know. It was just something that, like, I've seen these movies that I love, but also it was weird, like, seeing them come to life through costume. And everyone said they had a good time there. And, yeah, I'm really appreciative of Adrienne for reaching out to us about that. Yeah,

Mark Clague:

the Art at a Ton program is fantastic. So this is an amazing way where students can get involved. But the Arts Initiative is really here to help the Black Film Society, help grow your membership, but to connect you to other resources on campus that can be helpful. Because, you know, finding space and doing your screenings, like there's lots of challenges to running a student organization and, you know, transferring from one leadership team to the next. And like, there's always things. So this past semester, you performed the role of Lady in Green, right? And a pioneering theater work. Which sounds just sort of like mind-blowing, right? Sort of dance and poetry, Endosaki, Shange, and what Shange calls the choreo poem. And it's got this very personal autobiographical focus. I mean, the title right there is just sort of shocking, right? For color girls who have considered suicide slash when the rainbow is enough. Like, tell us about that experience. That sounds amazing. So you have this, and it's just to sort of open this up. I mean, you have a background not only in film, but as a... A dancer and as a singer, an actor, you know, set designer, sort of being behind the scenes and then on stage in the theater. So, yeah, tell us about being the lady in green.

Lauren Horne:

Oh, my gosh. That was definitely like I think the biggest highlight of this past year. It was such an amazing experience. That story, I think– The most fun part was really just hearing about how everyone's reactions to it and them telling me how it made them feel. I think that's the beauty of the art that we created on that stage. I really appreciate Sarah, who was our director, and just pitching this story to Basement Arts with other great people as well. I don't know. I'm still like, I'm not over it. I don't think I ever will be. It was such a beautiful experience. I grew as an artist through doing things I had never done before. But I didn't even know like choreo poems existed. Like I wasn't really sure what that was. But once we got into it, it's like, wow, this is amazing. It was so much fun. So

Mark Clague:

for listeners who didn't have the privilege of being there, what is a choreo poem?

Lauren Horne:

We're saying our like, our poetry, like, while there's music under. And

Mark Clague:

then there's dance as well.

Lauren Horne:

Yeah, there's dance. And they kind of all ate each other. We don't all do them at the same time. But... Yeah, that's kind of the best definition. It's very abstract, yeah.

Mark Clague:

And the Lady in Green, like, did you sort of figure out for yourself, like, who is the Lady in Green? Because she has, like, something taken from her and, you know, it can get pretty dark.

Lauren Horne:

No, yeah. I don't think I really understood who the Lady in Green was until, like, the first night at, like, the first show. That was, like, a huge struggle for me. But definitely, it It was so many things I think on different nights. I'm a young woman in the show and young black woman at that. Innocence taken away from you, something you hold dear whether it's a journal or your favorite blanket, your childhood blanket. It's just like something that you hold so dear that you're most protective of and you're just declaring to the world like, no this is mine I deserve it you know it's beautiful and it may not be beautiful to you but it's beautiful to me and it was yeah it was just a declaration of just protecting yourself I think a lot of it is self love too and just you know being secure I

Mark Clague:

mean here Basement Arts puts on these really high quality shows and it's not part of our professional training schools right this is This is not, you know, part of the theater program or the dance program or the musical theater program. Like we have amazing students and productions happening there, but this is all student run.

Lauren Horne:

Has expanded my network as well because I'm a lot of friends with, you know, artists, different performers, dancers, singers, and things like that. But also like, you know, in my film classes, other film students. So yeah, I think it's made me a more well-rounded student and it's also aided, I think, my writing. as well. I can write stories about performers and like know the anxieties that come with that and it feels more true, I guess.

Mark Clague:

One of the things I'd love to know more, you have a couple exciting film projects you're working on, I understand, Black Umish Is and Righteous Women. Can you tell us about those projects?

Lauren Horne:

Yeah, so I'll start with Righteous Women because that one is like more developed. But yeah, so my friend and FTVM alum, Daniela Castillo. She wrote it and directed it and asked me if I wanted to help produce it. And that was a really amazing experience. We shot in April. Yeah, April, May-ish. And it was a really great experience. It was my first on-set producing experience. It's a beautiful story about love, faith, and family and centering a queer character who's standing in their truth And it's really beautiful and I'm really appreciative of Daniella for bringing me on for this project. And then a more like personal project is Black Umesh Is. And this is a documentary in early development that's supposed to be created by the black community for the black community. And Black Film Society is producing it, but we're calling on everyone in the community to help out and be a part of it and make it their own. And it's more of a community project And we have like six sections, like Black Love, Black Academia, Joy... perseverance and struggle. And it's just, it's supposed to show the holistic experience of Black students here in Michigan. And we want to make sure that all identities are showcased and heard. And it would just be beautiful for everyone in the Black community to see themselves in some capacity in the documentary. And that'll be going on all of next semester, you know, shooting and we're gathering interest and, you know, sending out crew calls and things like that but I'm really excited um and so is

Mark Clague:

this a personal project or a black film society project or sort of both

Lauren Horne:

yeah um no this is more of a community project um and black film society is just like pushing it where you know we're gathering interest and um using what we know about film and like sharing that with our community and um is we would love like all black orcs to be a part of this and whether it's crew acting in it you know editing in it putting it together so yeah

Mark Clague:

so that sounds great I love how it's organic and you're just giving people, just sort of raising up what's happening and sort of letting that truth sing. That's really,

Lauren Horne:

that's fantastic. Black Amish is everything.

Mark Clague:

So what are your sort of hopes and dreams for the Black Film Society going forward?

Lauren Horne:

Yes. Definitely growing our membership. We've had like some solid members like all last year and they're great. And, you know, we're just trying to grow our membership, get our, Let people know who we are because we'll say the beginning of last year, a lot of people didn't know what Black Film Society was. And so we're growing membership, getting the word out about us. I would like us to become more active. I think this documentary is definitely a way for people to really know what we are about and what our intentions are within the community.

Mark Clague:

So how do people find out more about the Black Film Society and get involved? Do you have particular nights you meet or places or is there a website or

Lauren Horne:

what would be the way? I would say our Instagram at black underscore film underscore society. That's on Instagram. You can follow us there. And then I guess like once you follow the Instagram, like if you are a student, you can join our group me. And that's just like Black Film Society. Well,

Mark Clague:

thank you so much, Lauren, for being a guest on Creative Currents. It's been wonderful to talk to you.

Lauren Horne:

Thank you, Mark. It's been my pleasure. So thank you.

Mark Clague:

Creative Currents is a project of the University of Michigan Arts Initiative. Please subscribe to hear more great conversations with artists, scholars, and arts leaders from across the campus and across the globe. Send your comments and suggestions via email to creativecurrents at umich.edu. This episode of Creative Currents was produced by Mark Clegg and Jessica Jenks, and our audio engineer is Audrey Banks. Our original theme music is composed and performed by Ansel Neely, a student at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance. To learn more about the University of Michigan's Arts Please visit our website at arts.umich.edu. Thanks for listening.