In May, the British Film Institute will hand long-overdue UK premieres to two landmark features of American cinema, Jessie Maple’s Will, the first feature-length independent film produced by a Black American woman, and Zeinabu irene Davis’s Compensation, a time-hopping fable often described by critics as among the greatest independent films in U.S. history.

Both titles will arrive in London in newly minted 4K form. They will screen as part of an intriguing repertory season at the BFI titled Black Debutantes: A Collection of Early Works by Black Women Directors, curated by independent writer, critic, and programmer Rógan Graham.

The season will also include rare UK screenings of titles like Cauleen Smith’s seminal, indie favorite Drylongso (1998), Kathleen Collins’s Losing Ground (1982), and Naked Acts by Bridgett M. Davis (1996).

In her curatorial notes, Graham cites a broad frustration with the absence of Black women directors with filmographies robust...