“Re-turning to Archives: ‘There is Always More to Find and It Feels Real.’” An Interview with Terri Francis

In this interview, Terri Francis—scholar, curator, filmmaker, and former director of the Black Film Center & Archive—discusses her experiences with archives across scholarly, pedagogical, and artistic practices. Reflecting on formative experiences in Eatonville and her long-standing commitment to the work of Zora Neale Hurston, Francis describes a trajectory that includes essay filmmaking, public programming, and archival research as forms of storytelling and community building. The interview also highlights her curatorial work in Miami, including the co-curated event “The Earth Is a Living Thing.” Francis’s reflections offer an expansive view of archives not only as repositories of cultural memory but also as dynamic sites of ethical engagement and creative possibility.