In Under the Cherry Moon, Prince set out to create a highly stylized synthesis of genres and tastes that had yet to be seen onscreen. A cinephile with means far beyond that of any black filmmaker of the time, Prince placed himself, Jerome Benton, and the other black performers in a cinematic universe that only he could imagine and execute. This presentation will explore Prince as a filmmaker and the importance of Under the Cherry Moon in his oeuvre and in the history of Black cinema.

Melay Araya is an artistic director, writer, and archivist. A multimedia artist with three decades of experience, Ms. Araya continues to study, compose, record, and perform. Melay first presented a paper on the Jet/ Ebony archives at Black Portraiture[s] V Conference at NYU and has since gone on to speak about art and archives at universities, festivals, and in classroom settings.