Meet Nalani Dowling | Artist, Writer, Film Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nalani Dowling and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nalani, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’m from the island of Bermuda (of triangle fame); a tiny, subtropical dot in the Atlantic. When I moved to the US to attend Spelman College, I definitely experienced culture shock. In some ways, growing up in Bermuda was like coming of age in a small town that you couldn’t drive away from. Still, the island felt more safe than suffocating. It provided security, color, and cultural inspiration that stimulated my creativity and love for storytelling. Bermuda was my first muse.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
In the fall of 2020, the High Museum opened the exhibition, “Picture the Dream: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Children’s Books”, curated by author and publisher, Andrea Davis Pinkney. It was a wholly unique display of resilience through illustration, and its message was so pertinent to Atlanta after a summer of pain and protest. I am incredibly grateful and proud to have been a part of the project’s formation and fruition. I worked as the education research assistant and produced a short documentary to accompany the show in collaboration with filmmaking company, The Palette Group. Picture the Dream is a traveling exhibition (now on view at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art), and it’s fulfilling to know that the work and the resources created will go on to be enjoyed by audiences young and old, throughout the US.

This past fall I joined the first cohort of UGA’s new MFA program for Film, Television, and Digital Media. Heading to film school in the midst of a global pandemic is certainly not what I thought I’d be doing a year ago, and yet, I feel it’s where I’m meant to be as Georgia becomes a landmark for the American film industry. I began writing short fiction and screenplays as a creative way to connect with others. When COVID-19 forced the world into lockdown, the need for high quality media became extremely apparent. We’re living in a world riddled with confusion and uncertainty. Now more than ever, people across the globe are turning to the screen for comfort, entertainment, and reliable information.

I’m in grad school to build my skill set and portfolio toward a career in screenwriting and directing. With strong artistic and spiritual conviction, I hope to explore my passion for storytelling and write scripts where Black women (who have long been underrepresented and stereotyped in the industry) are main characters, and can star in narratives that aren’t based in racial trauma. This is a huge driving force behind my voice as a writer, and I craft screenplays for the types of shows and films that my friends and I would enjoy. It’s so freeing to dive into the worlds of coming of age tales, sci-fi epics, and slice of life dramedies. It took some time to realize what I wanted to pursue as a career, but I’m looking forward to the future, and am encouraged by the realm of Black creatives taking the world by storm!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate this shoutout to my little sister, Kayla. She’s graduating from Spelman College this spring and on her way to chiropractic school. Kayla has supported me creatively, and encouraged me spiritually, and been with me through life’s toughest trials. She’s is a brilliant musician, a compassionate sister and my very best friend.

Website: https://bynalani.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nalani-dowling-a9808712b/