A Powerful Thang

A Powerful Thang

1991 · 57 min · ★ 6.0 · Drama

This innovative drama, set in Ohio, traces an African American couple's search for intimacy and friendship. The spirited, African-identified Yasmine Allen is a writer and single mother who has been dating saxophone teacher Craig Watkins for a month. Wishing to end her self-imposed celibacy following her son's birth, Yasmine has reached a turning point in the relationship-but Craig, the Big Lug, wants to take it slow. Sage advice from friends and family members remind them, "sex is a powerful thang." Like her highly acclaimed CYCLES, Davis's film incorporates animation as well as Afro-Haitian dance in a rich exploration of the lives of African Americans.

Directed by Zeinabu irene Davis · Written by Marc Arthur Chéry

Your Rating

Cast

Barbara O. Jones (as Barbara O)
Asma Feyijinmi
John Earl Jelks Craig Watkins (as John Jelks)

Make it a double feature

1h 2m together

A Powerful Thang

Sweet Bird of Youth

Both from Zeinabu irene Davis.

More from Zeinabu irene DavisSee all →

A Period Piece

A Period Piece · 1991

In this video work, Zeinabu irene Davis and collaborator Quinta Seward perform a comic rap (old-school style) about the false promises in ads for feminine hygiene products. Lampooning the classic embarrassing scenarios (getting your period at the prom, exercise class or walking down the aisle), the rap’s feminist refrain reminds us that “confidence” comes from within, not from a box or tube. —Jacqueline Stewart

Crocodile Conspiracy

Crocodile Conspiracy · 1986

Crocodile Conspiracy

This charming tale focuses on Willa Ledbetter, an African American middle-aged school teacher in Watts, and her longing to visit her parent's homeland of Cuba. In the face of unexpected political and familial pressures to forego her dream, Willa struggles to make her decision. The title of the film refers to the shape of the island - the crocodile being its national symbol - and the menace socialist Cuba represents to many people in Willa's world.

Sweet Bird of Youth

Sweet Bird of Youth · 1987

Sweet Bird of Youth

A short film directed by Zeinabu Irene Davis.

Compensation

Compensation · 2025

MovieDramaRomance

The life of a deaf African American woman in the early 1900s parallels with another living in the 1990s.

Cycles

As a woman anxiously awaits her overdue period, she performs African-based rituals of purification. She cleans house and body, and calls on the spirits (Orishas in the Yoruba tradition), receiving much needed inspiration and assurance in a dream. The film combines beautifully intimate still and moving images of the woman’s body and home space, along with playful stop-motion sequences. —Jacqueline Stewart, UCLA Film and Television Archive

Dear Alaska,

MovieDocumentary

Gen-z Tlingit shark siblings uncover hidden family wounds to pave pathways of healing and lead celebrations of cultural reclamation for their community.

Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA

Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA · 2016

Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA

MovieDocumentary

Part of a multi-platform project highlighted by an hour long documentary about black filmmakers who worked and studied at UCLA between 1965 and the 1990s.

Pandemic Bread

Pandemic Bread · 2023

Luz, a Filipina interpreter, takes a call from Dr. Femi Balogun to discuss the end-of-life options for Remedios, an elderly Filipina woman in the hospital ICU during the early months of the COVID pandemic.

Define

Oblique, episodic meditations on the semiotics and ethics of ethnic female identity are accompanied by a blandly cynical narrator explaining how to “win an invitation to the dominant culture.” —Kevin McMahon

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter