This very special collection illuminates one of the most fascinating and unjustly neglected corners of American movie history' Martin Scorsese
"Among the most fascinating chapters in film history is that of the so-called race films which flourished between the 1920s and 1940s. Unlike the black cast films produced within Hollywood studio system, these films not only starred African Americans but were also funded, written, produced, edited, distributed, and often exhibited by people of colour. Entrepreneurial filmmakers built an industry apart from the Hollywood establishment, cultivating visual and narrative styles that were uniquely their own. Previously circulated in poor-quality 16mm print, these digitally restored presentations allow modern audiences to witness the legacies of Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams, Zora Neale Hurston and James and Eloyce Gist with fresh eyes. These pioneers of African-American cinema were truly innovative."
The Films:
Two Knights of Vandeville (1915) A Reckless Rover (1918) Within Our Gates (1920) The Symbol of the Unconquered: A Story of the Ku Klux Klan (1920) By Right of Birth (1921) Body and Soul (1925) Screen Snapshots (1920) Regeneration (1923) The Flying Ace (1926) Ten Nights in a Bar Room (1926) Reverend S.S. Jones Home Movies (1924-1928) The Scar of Shame (1929) Eleven P.M. (1928) Hell-Bound Train (1930) Verdict: Not Guilty (1933) The Darktown Revue (1931) The Exile (1931) Hot Biskits (1931) The Girl from Chicago (1932) Ten Minutes to Live (1932) Veiled Aristocrats (1932) Birthright (1938) The Bronze Buckaroo (1939) Zora Neale Hurston Fieldwork Footage (1928) Commandment Keeper Church (1940) The Blood of Jesus (1941) Dirty Gertie from Harlem, U.S.A. (1946) Moses Sisters Interview (1978)