Thomas Allen Harris is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker and scholar whose work explores family, identity, and spirituality. Drawing on the rich canon of African American and African Diaspora literature and arts, he draws audiences into dialogues that transcend the barriers which separate people from each other. Harris’ work re-interprets concepts around identity, autobiography, and representation using a model of co-creative socially engaged practice.
For over 30 years Harris has been creating deeply personal films that re-interpret the idea of documentary, autobiography and personal archive, including: Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela (2005), É Minha Cara/That’s My Face (2001), VINTAGE - Families of Value (1995), and the NAACP Image Award Winning, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (2014). Harris’ new projects include My Mom, The Scientist, a documentary film exploring his mother’s career as a chemistry professor and the unique challenges facing African Americans pursuing careers in STEM, and its corresponding national outreach project, Scientists in the Family, funded by the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, and the Heising-Simons Foundation.