Talibah Newman

Writer, Director, Visionary

<p>Talibah Lateefah Newman (Director/ Writer)&nbsp;&ndash; was planted, watered, and home grown in Dallas, Texas. She is a writer&ndash;director who is currently attending Columbia University&rsquo;s MFA program for film directing. Talibah is the eldest of five children and discovered her passion of filmmaking through writing short stories and shooting short films with her family at the tender age of 11. Talibah graduated from the Hockaday School of Dallas, Texas in 2002.</p> <p>Talibah has since gone on to attend Columbia University&rsquo;s undergraduate program majoring in film studies, African American studies, and creative writing. Post undergrad, Talibah decided to brave New York City landing several internships in her field with companies such as Ted Hope&rsquo;s This is That Production Company, Jonathan Demme&rsquo;s Clinica Estetico, and Optomen Productions. While devoting long hours to her internships she worked tirelessly on a short film about her late Grandfather and acclaimed jazz musician, David Fathead Newman, titled&nbsp;American Treasure. In 2007, Talibah worked as a post-production assistant for Blackmaled Productions&rsquo; Director, Malcolm D. Lee on&nbsp;Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins&nbsp;and subsequently became Malcolm&rsquo;s executive assistant continuing to work with him on his next film, Soul Men.</p> <p>As an M.F.A student, Talibah has sought to tell stories of familial relationships, precocious children, single character journeys into recreating identity, the complicated mosaic of religion and faith, and redefining race. Her films tackle the inner workings of family units as she seeks to discover the essence of what makes familial love last and replicate her own personal experiences with her family. Ms. Newman seeks to tell stories that are resonant of the bold, radiant, relentless, voices that have emerged from the familial and communal adventures that have marked her own journey from youth to adulthood. <br />Her films Our Father, Alterations and now Busted on Brigham Lane are a testament to her mission and fervor as a budding director and writer. In addition to her narrative directorial work, Talibah is also helming a documentary titled Hair Once Sacred, which chronicles her mother&rsquo;s life work and activism as a natural hair care stylist in Dallas, Texas who was arrested for practicing the ancestral art of hair braiding. When not directing,</p> <p>Talibah continues to chisel at her soon to be debut feature film script titled Special, Based on The Dropout By Joseph Mathews, which is the coming of age story of a young African American boy who was unjustly placed in special education from the time he was in third grade until he decided to take control of his life and drop out. The story is heart wrenching as well as triumphant and speaks to the many irreconcilable issues that we are currently dealing with in our educational system in America. <br />In addition, Ms. Newman is in post-production on the first season of her comedic webseries titled Famous Farrah and is also working on an ongoing social awareness project with Project Bully Free Zone in New York to create web content that dissects bullying from the inside out. </p> <p>She was also recently named a Princess Grace Honorarium recipient for her thesis project. <br />Through film and writing, Talibah seeks to spread hope and healing to those who need it the most.&nbsp;Busted on Brigham Lane, is Ms. Newman&rsquo;s culminating project for her third year at Columbia, and the beginning of a riveting career and many more inspiring pieces to come.</p>

About Me

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