The District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development is pleased to honor Adrena Ifill, award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder of DoubleBack Productions, as the July 2012 Filmmaker of the Month.
Adrena Ifill has more than 18 years experience in marketing, public relations and documentary video production. In 2002, she founded DoubleBack Productions, LLC due in part to the inspiration and enthusiasm for history passed down to her by her parents. DoubleBack Productions, LLC manages and consults with cultural and history projects utilizing the benefits of technology to restore and preserve less widely known events in the history of the African Diaspora. Its mission is to inform, preserve and provoke discourse across the globe.
Adrena produced and directed Congressman Robert Smalls: A Patriot’s Journey from Slavery to Capitol Hill, a historical documentary chronicling the life and achievements of Congressman Robert Smalls, formerly enslaved in South Carolina, who served in the US Congress for five terms during the Reconstruction era. This documentary is one of the few productions that uncover the dynamics of the role of African Americans in the history of American political leadership. The documentary received the best documentary award from the Arizona Black Film Showcase in 2007.
Adrena’s documentary credits also include Frontline: The Wall Street Fix; 2003 National Visionary Leadership Project Gala and Summit, 2004 National Visionary Leadership Summit. She produced various documentary shorts of African American leaders including activist Dick Gregory, actor Ossie Davis, artist Elizabeth Catlett, and folk singer Odetta.
In addition to filmmaking, Adrena managed the creation of and serves as a consultant to Avoice, the virtual library project of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. She directs its development, strategic partnerships and digitization. It is the first and most comprehensive virtual library on African American political and legislative contributions. Containing the archives of the Congressional Black Caucus, it is the only online repository for materials relating to all Black members of Congress from the 19th century to the present.
A graduate of the competitive Documentary Center of George Washington University in Washington, DC., Adrena also holds an MBA from Howard University and BA from Williams College in Massachusetts. She is a former board member of the Humanities Council of Washington, DC and the Black Collective for DC History. In addition, she serves on the Alumnae Board of Holton-Arms School in Maryland. She currently resides in ward five of the District of Columbia.
The DC Film Office launched the Filmmaker of the Month initiative to feature a District-based filmmaker who exemplifies the vast amount of talent and creativity based here in the nation’s capital. The Filmmaker of the Month initiative is part of its mission to elevate the national and international profile of the city’s most talented filmmakers. Previous filmmakers honored include award-winning filmmaker and comedian Tommy Taylor, Jr.; The West Wing producer Jonathan Zurer; accomplished writer and producer Aviva Kempner; and ANACOSTIA web series creator and director, Anthony Anderson.
You can visit the Filmmaker of the Month section to learn more about Adrena and previous Filmmaker of the Month recipients.