Annapolis Film Festival 2023 Exclusive: Catching Up With Invisible Beauty’s co-director Bethann Hardison
During the 11th annual Annapolis Film Festival in Maryland, Blackfilmandtv.com caught up with Bethann Hardison, who was presented with Black Experience Impact Award. Hardison is also the co-director of the documentary Invisible Beauty, which had its World Premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and also played at this year’s festival.
Via press notes - “Fashion revolutionary and model turned agent and activist Bethann Hardison knew that Black is beautiful well before the fashion industry acknowledged the truth. From walking runway shows alongside Iman to discovering supermodels like Tyson Beckford and mentoring icons like Naomi Campbell, Hardison has been at the epicenter of major representational shifts in fashion. Catalyzing change requires continuous championing, and as the next generation takes the reins, Hardison reflects on her personal journey and the cost of being a pioneer.
In tandem with Frédéric Tcheng (Halston, Dior and I), Bethann Hardison is a force at the helm of her own story. Together, the co-directors trace Hardison’s impact on fashion from runway shows in New York and Paris in the ’70s to roundtables about lack of racial diversity in the early 2000s. Hardison’s audaciousness and candor are inspiring and inviting. Interviews with industry speak to the state of fashion, while friends and family attest to Hardison’s rebellious and ambitious spirit. The film is an absorbing record of Hardison’s accomplishments and a rare contemplation on the life of a radical thinker.”
How long has this been in works?
Bethann Hardison: Well, the documentary on me has been in the works for two and a half to three years. But prior to that I was thinking of working on the same film called Invisible beauty but it was a different subject matter. It was more about the industry and following three girls and doing an expose the industry because they weren't being racially inclusive at that point.
At what point did you decide to include yourself in it?
Bethann Hardison: Yes, about four or five years ago. People kept saying, “that's a great idea what you're doing, but someone needs to do a film on you.” And the more I heard that and I heard that two or three times, which I didn't want ever, then I decided to step out of my own work and make it easier, and the film should just be about me.
Then there's the question of you co-directing it. There's the story about the models with your background in the story. Then there's you co-directing the film. How did that come about?
Bethann Hardison: Well, now it's no longer about the models. Now. It's just about me. So it's no longer that at all. But once I met Frédéric, who I had met when he did my three minute film for the CFDA when I got the award for CFDA. I met him then and he and I stayed in touch for a while. I liked the stuff see did and I was very taken with that Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel film he edited. So I went back to him when I was separated from my former director. And I've had the film all on me if I was going to do it or not. And I reached out to him to see if he could be of any assistance in that way. Eventually he came around and he said, “Yeah, let's do the film” and he said, “but I want you to be the co-director because I wouldn't want to tell your story without you directing it as well.”
So in terms of the aspects of your life, how much did you want to include in there? Was there anything left out?
Bethann Hardison: I didn't try to control it. That was something that basically where we went with how it went, and where I had to go. If I had to go to Mexico, if I had to go wherever I had to go, Yeah.
Are you pleased with the end result?
Bethann Hardison: Yeah. Because it makes everyone feel good. Everyone say how they felt about it. It makes you feel good. So then I think “did we do ok?” and I think we did.
What do you make of the modeling industry now? Specifically, black models?
Bethann Hardison: Well, everything is going very well for models of color. My whole point was always diversity. But this film is not a fashion film. This film is more about civil rights and is fashion related. But it's not my Kumbaya.
How was your experience as a director?
Bethann Hardison: Directing was very interesting but I had a lot of good company. Frédéric's extraordinary because of the way he was so much the audience. He was really the audience as he crafted. But I just gave information, and putting people in it helps. It had to be authentic.
How's working with Lisa Cortes?
Bethann Hardison: She's magnificent. No, this is real gangster stuff. She's really like, bouncing many balls and nothing falls between. That can happen naturally to anyone. It never does. She always is right there. It's really great. And I'm glad to have met her and have her as a co-producer. I brought her in and introduced Frédéric to her and vice versa. Those are nice things that happened and it's been a great team. Everybody felt it's been such a wonderful energy and the team felt it was a great project.