Happy second day of Black History Month!

The second post of our Black HerStory series will focus on Joi McMillon.

– photo via Huffington Post

Nationality: American

Occupation: Film Editor

Known For: The first black female nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing

Years Active: 2003 – Present

Notable Credits: Moonlight (2016), Lemon (2017)

We at Black Chick Media first took notice of Joi McMillon when we announced the 89th Oscar nominations last week. We felt that she deserved her own post in our HerStory series.

McMillon is an American filmmaker whose editing work in the critically acclaimed Moonlight landed her an Oscar nomination for Best Film Editing with her co-editor Nat Sanders.  This nomination makes her the first black woman to be nominated in the editing category.

McMillon met Barry Jenkins, the writer-director of Moonlight, while they were both film students at Florida State University. The two artists collaborated back in 2011 on Jenkin’s short film Chlorophyl.

McMillon’s nomination is a step forward for people of color gaining representation behind the camera. While representation in front of the camera is important, we shouldn’t forget that those who are behind the scenes have power over how those in front of the camera are represented.

This is Joi McMillon’s story and we wish her the best of luck on Oscar night later this month!