Directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1920 • United States
Starring Evelyn Preer, William Starks, Mattie Edwards
WITHIN OUR GATES is the earliest surviving feature film by an African American director. It was Oscar Micheaux’s second film (after 1919’s THE HOMESTEADER, now lost), centering on an idealisti...
Directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1920 • United States
Starring Iris Hall, Walker Thompson, Lawrence Chenault
THE SYMBOL OF THE UNCONQUERED is a response, of sorts, to D. W. Griffith’s THE BIRTH OF A NATION. In Oscar Micheaux’s rendition, the Klan (here renamed the Knights of the Black Cross) is depi...
Directed by Oscar Micheaux • 1925 • United States
Starring Paul Robeson, Mercedes Gilbert, Lawrence Chenault
Although the 1920s brought him acclaim as a stage actor and singer, Paul Robeson still had to prove himself as a viable screen performer. Mainstream avenues were limited, however, and his...
