In 1974, Jessie Maple became the first black woman to join the International Photographers of Motion Picture & Television Union (the many lawsuits that led to that victory she recorded in the book How to Become a Union Camerawoman) and in 1981, she released Will the first post civil rights feature-length film produced by an African-American woman.The following year, Maple founded 20 West, Home of Black Cinema in Harlem as a venue to show films by independent and black filmmakers to the public.