Yvonne Welbon, founder and CEO of Sisters in Cinema, has been documenting the history of Black women filmmakers for decades. Sisters in Cinema has grown from an online database to the Sisters in Cinema Media Arts Center, 2310 E. 75th St. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News)

A nonprofit celebrating the work of Black women and gender-nonconforming media makers opened its doors Friday.

The Sisters in Cinema Media Arts Center, 2310 E. 75th St., will offer screenings and workshops to the community.

The location is built on nearly 30 years of work from the organization’s founder and CEO, Yvonne Welbon.

The nonprofit, founded in 1997, began when Welbon realized she could only name one Black female film director: Julie Dash, the woman behind the spellbinding “Daughters of the Dust,” the first feature directed by an African American woman to receive national theatrical distribution.

“And when I asked my professors to help me, they were like, maybe you’re the second one,” Welbon said.

She knew it couldn’t be true, so she set out on the earliest iteration of Sisters in Cinema: a database that crowdsourced information about Black women filmmakers.

For Welbon, the project snowballed into several endeavors on this oftentimes unaccounted history: a documentary (“Sisters in Cinema”), a dissertation followed by a doctorate and the nonprofit as it is today.

Friday’s ribbon cutting marks the beginning of the “biggest and boldest iteration of it,” Welbon said.

The Sisters in Cinema Media Arts Center, 2310 E. 75th St., opened its doors Friday, March 15, 2024. The nonprofit will now have a physical space after highlighting the work of Black women and gender-nonconforming media makers for nearly 30 years. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News)

The media center hosts a cozy 35-seat theater with free donation-based tickets. It’ll offer a gallery, plus workshops and panels focused on media careers and the film industry, said Samira Abderahman, director of the center.

What’s also important to Welbon is the location: her home, South Shore.

“This neighborhood is a little economically challenged,” Welbon said. “We’re hoping that the center is one of the catalysts for the real revitalization of that commercial corridor in the heartland of South Shore.”

The group has already been offering several programs in the field, like the Sisters in Cinema Documentary Fellowship program, giving grants and mentorship to filmmakers, or the Sister Social, an opportunity for mediamakers to connect with one another.

The organization launched the Black Lesbian Writers Room, which was particularly moving to Welbon because of the age range of attendees. She remembered one attendee being struck by the different generations because it was uncommon to see images of older Black lesbians.

“Being in that space allows you to understand yourself in ways you might not if you weren’t in an intergenerational space,” Welbon said. “You’re looking forward, even looking back a little bit in your life.”

India Martin is a documentary fellow putting together a docuseries on Black, queer and chosen families to showcase “all the ways that people build families.” The fellowship has given her connections and funding to explore the topic.

“Sisters in Cinema is all about visibility and representation,” Martin said, “and those are things that I really care about.”

There’s a series of events this weekend. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, there will be a community open house, featuring a “pocket cinema” workshop to show attendees how to make films on their phones. And from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, there will be a brunch honoring Black women and gender-nonconforming media makers.

The Sisters in Cinema Media Arts Center hosts a cozy 35-seat theater with free donation-based tickets. It’ll offer a gallery, plus workshops and panels focused on media careers and the film industry, said Samira Abderahman, director of the center. (Blair Paddock / WTTW News)