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Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts SICCA
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Zeinabu Davis

Zeinabu Davis
  • Professor of Critical Gender Studies and African American Studies

Pandemic Bread

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The Fellowship Forum will include a clip from the "Making of Documentary" about Pandemic Bread. Pandemic Bread is a short dramatic film about a Filipino interpreter taking an end-of-life call with a doctor and an elderly woman diagnosed with COVID-19 in her quarantined hospital room.

This is a story of resilience, agency and hope told through the eyes of the interpreter who bakes bread during the call. The film involves a unique collaboration with the San Diego Filipino community, UC San Diego students and film professionals. By coming together to creatively express COVID-related experiences, this film offers an artistic vehicle of catharsis to aid in collective healing.

 Q&A

Fellowship Cohort: Fall 2022

Why did you choose this project?
I needed a cathartic outlet to release the pain of loss experienced from COVID-19.

How was this fellowship meaningful or impactful to you?
The fellowship made it possible to do the work and provide opportunity for collaboration between faculty, staff, students and professionals in San Diego. We explored a difficult topic in a meaningful way.

What future plans do you have related to this work, if any?
Continued festival screenings and educational distribution.

Zeinabu Davis is an independent filmmaker and professor in the Department of Communication. Her work is passionately concerned with the depiction of women of African descent, and her most recent documentary, “Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from Los Angeles,” (2016), won seven awards, including the African Movie Academy Award.