Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, the documentary co-directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn, won a Peabody Award for PBS’ American Masters on April 17.
The film about the American poet, singer, dancer, and civil rights activist premiered on the series in February 2017 and screened again during Black History Month this year.
American Masters is dedicated to biographies about writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, and filmmakers who have left “an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.”
And Still I Rise is Hercules’ third film to screen on the program. The other two are 2011’s Bill T Jones: A Good Man and 2012’s Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance.
Established in 1940, the Peabody Awards “honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media,” according to Wikipedia.
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise began with two distinct and separate inspirations.
Hercules, the Chicago-based co-owner of Media Process Group, hired Dr. Angelou for a voiceover job in the mid-90s. He has kept her photo on his desk ever since.
“I did a short fundraising video for an organization called Prevent Child Abuse America,” he explains. “Dr. Angelou agreed to do the voiceover for free.”
Years later, after his assistant noticed the photo and referred to Dr. Angelou as her “hero,” he was prompted to do a little research.
“I learned that nobody had ever done a film on her and started writing a treatment,” he recalls. “Then I was introduced to Rita Coburn, who had the same idea.”
Besides being a veteran director and production manager, Rita Coburn was a Maya Angelou confidante.
“Rita had a great relationship with Dr. Angelou,” says Hercules. “Her level of trust really allowed the film to happen.”
And Still I Rise was shot and edited by a crew from Media Process Group, a company that Hercules co-owns with Keith Walker, who was the film’s Director of Photography.
The story of Angelou’s life not only helped the team achieve the Peabody plateau, but it also continues to inspire them today.
“The film is about her struggle and how she overcame so many obstacles,” he explains. “I’ve never interviewed anybody like her before.”
Born in St. Louis in 1928, Maya Angelou survived an intense sexual assault that left her speechless for years when she was seven years old. She would later become one of the most inspirational and respected artists in the nation’s history. Her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is one of the most acclaimed in American literature.
The topics covered in And Still I Rise include Dr. Angelou’s professional dancing experience, which Hercules describes as “one of the most surprising things that people will learn.”
“She was a single parent, and she did that to make a living for a while,” he explains.
The footage of her dance performances, he continues, is “just magical,” much like the woman herself.
“Whatever story I asked about, she could go to that moment psychically and emotionally. This was just amazing to me,” says Hercules. “She came through all that with a sense of grace and even a sense of humor.”
