This program, featuring comments from Ossie Davis, provides an brief introduction to the Tyler, Texas Black Film Collection of race films from the 1930s and ’40s.
In this rare interview, shot on video in 1978 by film historian Pearl Bowser, sisters Ethel, Lucia, and Julia recount their years in African American cinema and upon the segregated variety stage.
This introduction highlights the short films of Zora Neale Hurston, which she shot on her trips to Florida between 1927 and 1929.
Professor and film scholar Jaqueline Najuma Stewart appreciates director Spencer Williams and analyzes his career, specifically his films THE BLOOD OF JESUS and DIRTY GERTIE FROM HARLEM U.S.A., both of which are featured in the “Pioneers of African American Cinema” collection.
