Naked Acts – Bridgett M. Davis

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THE STORY.
Set within the demanding and revealing milieu of a low-budget film shoot, Naked Acts tells the story of Cicely, an actress, who has recently lost 57 pounds and landed her first role in a low-budget art film. She soon learns that the role requires a nude scene. Her dilemma: How to keep her clothes on and keep her part? Cicely launches on a personal journey that unveils a secret she once kept hidden beneath her girth. Along the way, she discovers that emotional nakedness is far more revealing than taking her clothes off could ever be.

photo credit: David Handschuh/NY Daily News via Getty Images

THE JOURNEY.
Shot across three months in 1994, Naked Acts screened in 25 film festivals on four continents, garnering key awards. After seeking distribution, in 1998 Bridgett secured a one-screen theatrical release of the film at the Thalia Theater in Manhattan; soon after, the film aired on Sundance Channel and was released on video and DVD by Netflix, Hollywood Video, and Amazon.

In 2013 — nearly 20 years after she’d shot Naked Acts — Bridgett placed the film and its elements in the Black Film Center & Archive at Indiana University, to preserve it and to give scholars and film students a chance to discover it. Nine years later, Naked Acts was discovered in that archive by Maya S. Cade, creator of her own Black Film Archive, who reached out to Bridgett to assist her in acquiring long-awaited distribution. Soon after, Milestone Films and Kino Lorber collaborated on the 4K restoration and 2024 theatrical release of Naked Acts – 30 years after production.\

US Premiere of newly-restored Naked Acts – LightBox Film Center, Feb. 7, 2025, Philadelphia, PA
Q&A w/ Bridgett M. Davis, Maori Karamel Holmes and Maya S. Cade

THE IMPACT.
Relaunched in 2024 with a US premiere at LightBox Film Center in Philadelphia, and a global premiere at Rotterdam International Film Festival, Naked Acts has now screened in 25 US cities, as well as 11 international festivals and venues; Receiving widespread critical acclaim, the film has been touted as a “missed masterpiece”, “a great discovery” and a lost gem that now “expands film history.”

In 2025, Naked Acts was released on DVD/Blu-Ray — with extensive bonus materials from the ‘90s and present-day — and is now available for streaming on Apple TV and Prime Video; the film will soon air on Turner Classic Movies and Criterion Channel.

photo credit: Rob Fields

photo credit: Rob Fields

THE CANON.
Naked Acts was the first film to be written, produced, directed and self-distributed theatrically by an African American woman. Celebrated as a key film in the Black filmmaking renaissance of the 90s, Naked Acts is also cited as instrumental in the indie film movement led by women directors of that decade.

Naked Acts is included in the seminal documentary by Yvonne Welbon, Sisters In Cinema, and the anthology “The 50 Most Influential Black Films” by S. Torriano Berry.

PRAISE FOR NAKED ACTS

“The rediscovery of Naked Acts expands film history… Davis’s film…exalts the hard-won breakthrough of self-depiction, of controlling the means of production; it opens pathways to a future cinema more radical than itself.”

—Richard Brody, New Yorker

“A missed masterpiece of the era.”

–Film Threat

“One of the year’s great discoveries!”

–Mark Olsen, LA Times

“Fresh, funny and original… Naked Acts is one pic people will be falling over one another to claim they have discovered.”

―Variety

“An off-beat, razor-sharp comedy.”

– The New York Times

“Smartly written and charmingly neurotic.”

– New York Magazine

“Critic’s Pick! A rewarding and invigorating find.”

–Time Out New York

For more information /press materials on Naked Acts: https://kinolorber.com/film/naked-acts