Regina King says black female directors face pressure to succeed or risk ‘shutting things down’ for other creators

Actor’s directorial debut was first film by an African-American woman to be selected for Venice Film Festival

Regina King has spoken about the pressure placed on black female directors to succeed or else see opportunities “shut down” for future creators.

The Oscar-winning actor made her film directorial debut at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday (6 September) with One Night In Miami, which is the first movie directed by an African-American woman to be selected in the festival’s history.

It tells the story of the real-life meeting of Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke in 1964 and is based on Kemp Powers’ 2013 stage play of the same name.

Appearing at the screening virtually, King, 49, was asked whether she hoped her history-making turn as a director would help open doors for more black women to get into film production, but admitted that it would be dependant on the movie’s reception.

“Unfortunately, across the world, that’s how things seem to work,” King said, via Variety. “One woman gets a shot and if she does not succeed, it shuts things down for years until someone else gets a shot.

“I am so grateful for our film to be part of the festival, but I really, really want it to perform well,” she continued.

“There’s so much talent out there – so many talented directors – so if One Night in Miami gets it done here, you’ll get to see a lot more of us.”

One Night In Miami will see Kingsley Ben-Adir star as Malcolm X alongside Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom Jr as Sam Cooke.

The rights have been obtained by Amazon Studios, with a theatrical release planned for the future.