Monica J. Freeman (b. 1947) is an independent documentary filmmaker and film programmer whose work helped lay the groundwork for a new generation of Black women filmmakers creating independent films about Black women. She has been cited as an inspiration by filmmakers such as Ayoka Chenzira, Michelle Parkerson, and Julie Dash, and has long been a source of support and encouragement within Black arts communities in New York, Georgia, and Florida.

Freeman began her career with Nafasi Productions, where she learned filmmaking under the tutelage of John Wise. During this time, she directed and produced her first film, Valerie: A Woman, an Artist, A Philosophy of Life (1975), a documentary about sculptor Valerie Maynard, whom Freeman met through the vibrant Black arts community at the Studio Museum in Harlem. She would later use a rough cut of Valerie to apply to Columbia University, where she earned her MFA. Freeman followed her film debut with A Sense of Pride: Hamilton Heights (1977), a documentary exploring the history and brownstone revival of the predominantly African American neighborhood, produced with an all-women crew that included Ayoka Chenzira, Jennifer Lawson, and Elaine Baly. She then directed Children’s Art Carnival: Learning Through the Arts (1978), documenting a Harlem youth arts education center led by Betty Blayton-Taylor. Across these early works, Freeman demonstrated a commitment to documenting artists, cultural institutions, and the communities that sustain them, and she carried that commitment with her into her later community-centered efforts.

Freeman’s films have been screened nationally and internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art, the Pompidou Centre, the Swedish Traveling Museum in Stockholm, the Kennedy Center, and FESPACO. Her work has also been featured at notable festivals such as the Festival of Three Continents (1979), the International Women’s Film Festival (1980), the Independent Black American Cinema 1920–1980 Festival in Paris (1980), and the Magic City Film Festival (1995).

Alongside her filmmaking, Freeman built a distinguished career as a film programmer. She is perhaps best known for helping organize the 1976 Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts, the first Black women’s film festival, alongside Black feminist artists Faith Ringgold, Michele Wallace, Patricia Spears Jones, and Margo Jefferson. As film programmer, Freeman showcased the work of sixteen independent Black women filmmakers, including Ayoka Chenzira and Madeline Anderson. Decades later, she helped organize The Sojourner Truth Festival of the Arts, 2023 at the University of Chicago, commemorating the historic event. Freeman has also directed and curated film programs for numerous festivals and organizations, including the South Florida Black Film Festival, the City of Atlanta Third World Film Festival, the Hoyt Fuller Film Festival, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Throughout her career, Freeman has been active in many film organizations including the Black Documentary Collective, the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF), Diaspora World Cinema, and the Atlanta African Film Society, where she served as Executive Programmer. She also co-founded Axe Multimedia Entertainment Group, an early online platform dedicated to exhibiting films from the African diaspora, and was recognized at the first Blacks in Technology Summit for that work. Freeman’s contributions have further extended into teaching and scholarship through lecturer positions at Clark Atlanta University and Florida International University, as well as her participation in a Fulbright Teachers Seminar in Senegal focused on African cinema.

The Monica J. Freeman Collection contains paper, 3D objects, and audiovisual recordings related to Monica Freeman's film production and programming work, as well as her involvement and support of the Black art communities of NYC, Atlanta, GA, and South Florida.