He reveals works that have been ignored by studios and the public
An American exhibition digs into the history of Hollywood and "black cinema"
Responsible for the exhibition: Many of the "ethnic films" of which only their posters remain.
AFP
Long before Denzel Washington or Spike Lee, generations of black directors shaped American cinema were pioneers who revolutionized the Seventh World and helped counter prevailing stereotypes, according to an exhibition opening Sunday at the Oscar Museum in Los Angeles.
The exhibition "Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971" highlights important moments in the less-known history of black American cinema, especially the hundreds of independent feature films made up to the 1960s with black American actors.
These works were called "ethnic films," and were intended for an African American audience in an era when movie theaters were still segregated.
The exhibit, which highlights works largely ignored by major Hollywood studios and audiences of the era, begins with a finally rediscovered 1898 film reel that shows two black vaudeville actors embracing.
"Are you ready to hear this secret?" director Ava DuVernay said at a press conference.
That we blacks have always been present in American cinema since the beginning.”
She added, "We were present, not as caricatures or as stereotypes, but as directors, producers, pioneers and enthusiastic viewers, and we should have shown that much earlier."
"Regeneration" is the second major temporary exhibition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars, which has been criticized a lot in recent years for its lack of diversity.
Among the exhibits are the Oscar statuette, which Sidney Poitier won in the Best Actor category in 1964 for "Lilies of the Field", the first African-American to win the coveted film award, the clicking shoes of the dance duo Techolas Brothers, or even the outfit they wore. It was worn by Sammy Davis Jr. in the movie Porgy and Bess.
Curator Doris Berger, curator of the exhibition, said, "I was surprised because I was not aware of the existence of these feature films before we began preparing in 2016 for this retrospective and exploring the archives of the Academy."
She added: “I asked myself: Why do we not know anything about this subject?
We should know about it!”
She thought they were "really engaging films that show that African-American artists were taking on all kinds of roles, and there were a lot of different stories."
Audiences can now see carefully restored scenes from works such as the musical Western "Harlem on the Prairie",
But many of the other "ethnic films" of which only their promotional posters remain are lost forever.
• The exhibition highlights unknown strips of “ethnic films”.
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