Lightbox’s HBO Original Documentary Donyale Luna: Supermodel is to debut in September on HBO
The documentary that explores the life and legacy of the revolutionary black supermodel is directed by Nailah Jefferson (HBO’s “Plaquemines”).
The film chronicles the life and career of Donyale Luna, the first Black model to grace the cover of both Harper’s Bazaar (1965) and Vogue (1966). “Breaking barriers in the fashion industry, challenging the prevailing ideals of beauty, and influencing culture in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Luna remains largely unknown despite her stunning body of work and her collaborations with some of the foremost fashion photographers of the 20th century.”
After working in New York with famed photographer Richard Avedon and collaborating with Andy Warhol, Luna made her way to London in the 1960s where she also worked with Salvador Dali. She later met and married photographer Luigi Cazzaniga in Italy, where she explored her true love, avant-garde theatre and film, before her early death at the age of 33. Luna’s daughter Dream Cazzaniga reads from Luna’s journals “and a poetic portrait emerges of one of the first Black models to change the beauty paradigm, breaking down the doors of the white modeling world, inspiring generations to come, and leaving a far-reaching legacy.”
Donyale Luna: Supermodel is a Lightbox Production in association with Jeff Friday Media and The American Black Film Festival. Directed by Nailah Jefferson; produced by Melissa Kramer, Isoul H. Harris, Melanie Sharee; executive produced by Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Jeff Friday, Dream Cazzaniga. For HBO, executive producers are Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller; supervising producer, Anna Klein.
Jon Creamer
Share this story
