Collections/February 2020

Pioneers of African American Cinema

Featuring interviews with film scholars Charles Musser and Jacqueline Najuma Stewart Among the most fascinating chapters of cinematic history is that of the so-called “race films” that flourished in the U.S. between 1920s and the ’40s. Unlike the “black cast” films produced within the Hollywood studio system, these films not only starred African Americans but were funded, written, produced, edited, distributed, and often exhibited by people of color. This landmark collection, curated by scholars Charles Musser and Jacqueline Najuma Stewart for Kino Lorber, collects an astonishing range of features, shorts, and fragments. Taken together, these vital, long-neglected works represent a rich alternative history of American cinema forged by innovative artists who defied systemic oppression to tell their own stories on screen. Added on SUNDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2020

28 films — 26 on the Channel, 2 unavailable