Faded Glory: Early African American Cinema, 1915-1952

Few Americans, even those with a serious interest in film, know that from the end of World War One until the early 1950s, an independent cinema appeared created by and for African Americans. Shown in cinemas located in African American neighborhoods or at special times in mixed neighborhoods, these films were never reviewed in the mainstream media, nor did the vast majority of “white” America know them. The films ranged from musicals to melodramas to westerns to horror films, and at times broached themes unimaginable in Hollywood cinema, such as interracial romance, “passing” for white, or the lynching of African Americans by white mobs.  Sadly, of the 500 or so it is believed were made, fewer than 90 exist today. A brief history of the movement will be given, along with the screening of two short clips.

Richard Peña is a Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University. From 1988-2012, he was the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Director of the New York Film Festival. He is currently a Visiting Professor in Film in the VES Dept. at Carpenter Center.