A Different Image

A Different Image is a 1982 American film that was directed, written, and edited by Alile Sharon Larkin that explores body image and societal beauty standards through the eyes of a young Black woman on a journey towards self-worth.

A Different Image
Directed by	Alile Sharon Larkin
Written by	Alile Sharon Larkin
Produced by	Alile Sharon Larkin Women Make Movies
Starring	Margòt Saxton-Federella Michael Adisa Anderson
Cinematography	Charles Burnett
Edited by	Alile Sharon Larkin Charles BurnettRef?
Music by	Munyungo Jackson
Release date	1982 (1982)
Running time	52 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Summary

Alana (Margot Saxton-Federlla), an art student, explores sexuality, Western ideals of beauty, and her own self-worth in 1980's Los Angeles.^[1] Vincent (Adisa Anderson), her long-time friend, feels pressured to turn their platonic relationship into a sexual one which further intensified Alana's frustration with western, patriarchal beauty standards and gender norms.^[2]

Cast

• Margòt Saxton-Federella as Alana
• Michael Adisa Anderson as Vincent

Production

Creating a Different Image: Portrait of Alile Sharon Larkin is a 1989 documentary about the making of A Different Image^[3]

Reception

The film is considered as a groundbreaking foray into a realistic character portrait of a young Black woman. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times heralded it as "...extraordinary, a fresh and clear expression of an acute sensibility.^[4]"

Awards and recognition

• First Prize, Black American Cinema Society Award
• Official Selection, London Black Film Festival
• Best Production of 1981, Black Filmmaker Foundation
• Runner Up, Best Short Film, Filmex^[5]
• Official Selection, the 2011 L. A. Rebellion: Creating New Cinema^[6]

Screenings

• UCLA's L.A. Rebellion Film Series, UCLA Hammer Museum, 2011^[7]
• Madeline Anderson Shorts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2013^[8]
• Afterimage: Madeline Anderson, Berkeley Art Museum, 2016^[9]
• One Way or Another: Black Women's Cinema, 1970–1991, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2017^[10]

Preservation

The Black Film Center/Archive preserved A Different Image, which included 16mm original color reversal A/B rolls and full-coat magnetic track elements. They produced a 16mm color internegative, a soundtrack negative, and two new 16mm projection prints.^[11]

The script of the film was published in a 1991 compilation of collected works called Screenplays of the African American Experience.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• L.A. Rebellion
• Black Women Filmmakers