Shola Lynch (born March 20, 1969) is an American filmmaker, artist and former child actress. She is best known for her films ''Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed'' (2004) and ''Free Angela and All Political Prisoners'' (2012), both of which focus on African-American women and political history. She is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

Early life and education

Lynch was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, and grew up in New York City. She is the oldest daughter of Hollis and Sharon Lynch (née Fisher) and has a younger sister named

Nnenna Nnenna is an Igbo name which translates to "a father's mother" in English. It is a feminine name given to girls who are believed to be reincarnates of their paternal grandmother. Notable people with the name include: * Nnenna Freelon (born 1954), Am ...

. She is mixed race. Her father is originally from Trinidad & Tobago and her mother is Canadian. At the age of two, she began acting on the PBS children's series ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' and did so until she was 6. She began running and training as a track-and-field athlete in sixth grade specializing in 800-meter and 1500-meter races. By 13, she began breaking national records for her age bracket in 800-, 1500-, and 1600-meter races. She later moved from New York to Texas with the ambition to race in track at the Olympics and continued to win in events up to 1992. She did not attend the 2000 Olympic Games however, due to a back injury. Lynch graduated from Hunter College High School and the University of Texas at Austin (UT). She graduated from UT's Plan II honors program and was the captain of its track team two years running. She then attended the University of California-Riverside where she earned a graduate degree in Public Resource Management and in American history. Her master's thesis was an exhibit at The UCR Museum of Photography called "How Far Have We Come?" examining the different media representations of black people to highlight racial stereotypes throughout history. Lynch also achieved a master's in journalism from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

After earning her degree Lynch moved back to New York from Texas to attempt to began an art career. This did not work out due to lack of funds for artists in New York at this time. Instead she got a job at

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

' production company and worked with him for five years on documentaries including his series ''

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

(2000).'' Her skills in film and background in history contributed to her research and production for other documentaries, such as HBO Sports' ''Do You Believe in Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team'' (2001). She then worked on ''Matters of Race'': ''EveryOther'' (2003), which focused on racialized issues in the United States. Her interest in history and race lead to her to write, direct and produce her first independent film, ''Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed''. Lynch heard about

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional distr ...

over the radio and this sparked old memories of her from her childhood. Having been inspired by Chisholm as a youth she made multiple attempts to contact her in order to get permission to create a film to inspire a new generation of young people. ''Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed'' was Lynch's directorial debut, which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and won several awards including the George Foster Peabody Award. The second film she directed, ''Free Angela and All Political Prisoners'', came out in 2006 and profiled

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

, who was an activist and professor in the 1970s. The film received honorable mention at the Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Theatrical Documentary at the 2014 NAACP Image Awards. Lynch became a member of the

in 2016. Lynch received the Creative Capital grant in 2015 to sponsor the research and production of her next film, tentatively called ''The Outlaw''. Since 2013, Lynch has worked at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as the Curator of the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.

Filmography

Personal life

Lynch lives in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in New York City with her husband and their two children.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Shola 1969 births 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women Actresses from Buffalo, New York African-American child actresses African-American female track and field athletes African-American film directors African-American film producers African-American screenwriters African-American women artists American child actresses American female middle-distance runners American filmmakers American people of Canadian descent American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Artists from Buffalo, New York Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Hunter College High School alumni Living people People from Buffalo, New York Track and field athletes from New York City University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni