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Editor's Letter: What Amma Asante Taught Me About Gaining Power In White Spaces

2014 was a life changing year for me. It was in fact the year that Black Ballad launched. After months of planning, days of editing, hours spent in different meetings, we finally showed the world what would be the first version of our vision.

That year, many other significant things happened - one being that Amma Asante released her second film, Belle. While many were fascinated by the fact that Amma Asante brought a period drama featuring a mixed race black woman to the big screen, I was equally as fascinated that a black British woman was behind the camera. The only black female film directors I knew at the time were Ava DuVernay due to the release of Selma and of course, Gina Prince-Bythewood for Love and Basketball.