-Who is Terri Battee?
A nervous, creative, book loving nerd, I’ve been writing manuscripts, poems, and screenplays since I was about 8 years old. I took the opportunity to write every chance I got. Children my age made me tense, but writing my thoughts down chased the demons away. Writing became vignettes of therapy to my child brain. The vignettes became television stories in my head, much like Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone.
-Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
It was 1968, I was 6 years old. My 2 older sisters took me and my niece and nephew (their kids/same age) to the drive-in movie.The double feature showing that hot summer night were Planet of the Apes (1968) and Valley of the Dolls (1967). I was looking forward to the latter film and it did not disappoint. The film based on Jacqueline Susann’s sensational novel. How did I know it was sensational? I had read passages of my sisters’ copy lying around the house.
That was true cinema to me at the time! “NEELY O’HARA” – Patty Duke
-Tell us about your project “The James Crow Hotel”.
My short film thriller, The James Crow Hotel, Winner of the Best Crime Category at Absurd Film Festival, March, 2026 in Milan Italy, invites the viewer into the warped reality of three 10 year old children, raised in a sundown town during the civil rights era, reimagined in current day america. The film is dark and a depiction of my formative years in my hometown, Shreveport Louisiana.
-Which Director inspires you the most?
Hands Down, Barry Jenkins!
I discovered Barry’s magic during his stand out LGBTQ-themed indie film, Moonlight (2016).
This film hit home. I personally know of not just Black men, but men in general that exist inside a DL (Down Low) lifestyle, i.e. Thug Life, The Pulpit, Married Life, Political Life, Homophobic Life…
“In moonlight, black boys look blue” has many connotations.
-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?
The hatred and jealousy of humans on this earth. The assumption of what humans possess and how they accomplished their feat. The “every man for himself” mentality vs the “no man left behind” theory.
-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
100 years from today would give us a 2126 existence, which could have humanity on the brink if extinction and completely operated by bots, or Technology will collapse and take us back to the days of Roundhay Garden Scene (1888), a one-minute, short, black and white, silent film that will give us plenty to talk about around the water cooler at work on Monday morning.
-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
Honestly, I had never heard of the magazine. When I read the bios of some of the recipients, I was very excited! I absorbed Alison Somilleda’s Interview! The trauma and later resilience of my journey…
From the racial iniquities as a child to the military sexual trauma as a United States Air Force Airmen during the Gulf War to the open hatred of queer people of color in today’s america, I concur with Alison’s message. The articles in WILD FILMMAKER keeps me interested and engaged! Thank You for the Invitation!
