I took a documentary filmmaking class with Jeff Ruoff, and I made a film about how people greet each other on campus. It felt so accessible to me in a way that narrative film didn’t, and I started making things.
Samantha Knowles '12 “

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Samantha Knowles '12 featured in Dartmouth Alumni Magazine

Posted on June 03, 2021 by Lauren Vespoli

Documentary filmmaker Samantha Knowles '12 tackles issues of race and identity.

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    Photo by Ian McKinnie

Samantha Knowles' film career began her senior year at Dartmouth, after her culminating project, the documentary short Why Do You Have Black Dolls?, was accepted into the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival and later played at four other festivals. he's since directed a New York Times op-doc, The Blue Line, about a public show of support for police that divided her hometown, and Tangled Roots, about discrimination against natural hairstyles, which premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival.

Read about Samantha's inspirations and advice to aspiring filmmakers in this interview with Lauren Vespoli '13 for Dartmouth Alumni Magaine.

Watch her culminating film Why Do You Have Black Dolls? here