Programmed March 2021
Black Westerns
Featuring an introduction by guest programmer and film scholar Mia Mask As the civil rights movement gained momentum in the 1960s, leading filmmakers and stars sought to reshape the myths of the Hollywood western. Sidney Poitier, Gordon Parks, and even John Ford were among the directors who drew on the historical experiences of African Americans to tell unexplored stories. In the decades that followed, Black actors from Woody Strode and Poitier (who broke with his urbane image in his thrilling directorial debut Buck and the Preacher ) to Vonetta McGee and Ving Rhames would repeatedly play key roles as cattle rustlers, cavalrymen, outlaws, and bounty hunters in bold revisions of the genre. Featuring works by Mario van Peebles, John Singleton, and…
12 films
No longer streaming
