UCA African American Cinema Final
Song of the South (1946)
-1946 American live-action/animated musical film produced by Walt Disney -mixed cartoon with live action -black folklore -protests on film -remade 5 times -zip a dee doo da (splash mountain)
Pam Grier
-1970s women in prison and blaxploitation films -"Foxy Brown" and "Cleopatra Jones" -starred in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 "Jackie Brown" -received a Satellite Award and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress
Charles Lane
-African-American actor and filmmaker -intellectual of new wave black filmmakers -"side walk stories" (1989) shot in B&W and almost a silent film about race and class -no films after 1991
Jack Johnson
-American boxer at the height of the Jim Crow era -became first African American world heavyweight boxing champion -racially motivated charge on controversy for his relationships, including marriages, with white women. -allegations of domestic violence. -Sentenced to a year in prison, fled the country and fought boxing matches abroad for seven years until 1920 when he served his sentence at the federal penitentiary -Johnson was posthumously pardoned by President Donald Trump in May 2018, 105 years after his conviction.
Harry Belafonte
-American singer - became actor -Acted in "The World, The Flesh, And The Devil" (1959). -"retired" from film to march for civil rights with MLK -Offered to play in "Porgy and Bess" (1959) but turned it down -Wasn't in another film for 11 years
Bert Williams
-Bahamian-American entertainer -Vaudeville era -one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time -best-selling black recording artist before 1920.
Ossie Davis
-Broadway actor, director, poet, playwright, author, and civil rights activist -He and his wife - NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame -awarded the National Medal of Arts -recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors -American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994.
Selma (2014)
-Directed by Ava DuVernay -good reviews -nominated for Best Picture -no a King Biopic in Hollywood until now -viewed King as a person and not a monument and treated him with respect
Gordon Parks Jr.
-Gordon Park's son -Directed "Superfly" and all the sequels -learned from father directing "Shaft" -dies in plane crash
Soul Man (1986)
-The film was directed by Steve Miner -a white man temporarily darkens his skin (black face), in order to pretend to be black and qualify for a black-only scholarship at Harvard Law School.
Hattie McDaniel
-actor -known as "Mammy" in Gone with the Wind (1939) -won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (the first Academy Award won by an African American entertainer)
Spencer Williams
-actor and filmmaker -Andy on TV's "The Amos 'n' Andy Show" -directed the race film "The Blood of Jesus" (1941)
Eddie Murphy
-actor and filmmaker -idolized Richard Pryer -started with comedian shows at the age of 13 -Saved SNL in the 80's -have standup albums -after 1 year of being on SNL, he starred in a Hollywood film -starred in "Beverley Hills Cop" (1984) -directed "Harlem Nights" (1989) and was nominated for Worst Director and was given double the most money a black filmmaker has ever been given.
Fred "the Hammer" Williamson
-actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the AFL during the 1960s -starred in "Black Caesar" and its sequel "Hell Up in Harlem" -in other 1970s blaxploitation films such as; Hammer (1972), That Man Bolt (1973) and Three the Hard Way (1974)
Will Smith
-actor and rapper -"the most powerful actor in Hollywood" -nominated for 5 Golden Globe Awards and 2 Academy Awards, and has won 4 Grammy Awards
Denzel Washington
-actor, director, and producer -received 3 Golden Globe awards, a Tony Award, and 2 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor
Sidney Poitier
-actor, film director, author, and diplomat. -singled out as a historical figure -from Bahamas -started acting to get rid of his acting with "No Way Out" (1950) -first black actor to win A.A for Best Actor, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for "Lilies of the Field" -starred in 3 successful films that dealt with race issues: "To Sir, with Love"; "In the Heat of the Night"; and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", making him the top box-office star of 1959
Tyler Perry
-actor, playwright, filmmaker, producer, and comedian -75% of audience are black women from age 5-55 -beef with spike lee - 19 feature length films and only two lose money -gospel theater trend in 90's -"Woman Thou Art Loosed" (2004) play -"Diary of a Mad Black Woman" (2005) #1 in B. O. -built a brand for himself -Madea Goes to Jail" (2009)
Clarence Muse
-actor, screenwriter, director, composer, and lawyer -Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973 -first African American to "star" in a film -acted for 50 years, and appeared in more than 150 movies -roles where "Uncle Tom" portrayals of blacks -his name was rarely seen in credits
Fredi Washington
-an African-American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. -European and African admixture -one of the first people of color to gain recognition for their film and stage work in the 1920s and 30s.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
-an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe -second best-selling book of the 19th century, following the Bible -inspired and popularize a number of stereotypes about black people
Oscar Micheaux
-author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. -Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled by black filmmakers -first major African-American feature filmmaker, producer of race film, and described as "the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the 20th century"
Shaft (1971)
-blaxploitation action-crime film directed by Gordon Parks -one of the most popular -the Black Power movement, race, masculinity, and sexuality filmed around Harlem
Super Fly (1972)
-blaxploitation crime drama film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr -known for its soundtrack, written and produced by soul musician Curtis Mayfield. -stars Ron O'Neal as Youngblood Priest, an African American pimp and cocaine dealer who is trying to quit the underworld drug business.
Joe Louis
-boxer -pride in black community -appeared in 6 full-length films and 2 shorts
Moonlight (2016)
-coming of age story -one best picture in 2017 -talked about it but few saw it -most films make money after they win best picture, but "moonlight" didn't.
#OscarsSoWhite
-controversy after 2015 Academy Awards had no black film nominations -hadn't happened since 1998
Love & Basketball (2000)
-directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood -buppie (films of successful blacks acting white/disconnect from black poverty) -gender questions -by 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks (Spike Lee helped her)
Boyz n the Hood (1991)
-directed by John Singleton -stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, Laurence Fishburne -nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay (Academy Awards), making Singleton the youngest person ever nominated for Best Director and first African-American nominated.
Passing Through (1979)
-directed by Larry Clark during L. A. Rebellion -student at ucla (not there in the very beginning) -film was never officially released -seen at festivals (only seen by maybe 1,000 people) -he wanted it as a piece of art and not mass produced
Car Wash (1976)
-directed by Michael Schultz -Originally conceived as a musical -deals with the exploits of a close-knit, multiracial group of employees at a Los Angeles car wash.
Under the Cherry Moon (1986)
-directed by Prince -starring Prince -critical and commercial failure, winning five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, tying with Howard the Duck
Eleven P.M. (1928)
-directed by Richard D. Maurice, an African pioneering filmmaker during the silent era. -abstract film
Stir Crazy (1980)
-directed by Sidney Poitier -stars Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor -unemployed friends are given 125-year prison sentences after being framed for a bank robbery and they befriend other prison inmates.
Kasi Lemmons
-director and actress -"Eve's Bayou" (spirituality and sexual assault, but didn't get much business), "The Caveman's Valentine" (not for a black audience and got even worse business), and "Talk to Me" (limited release and budget).
Michael Schultz
-director and producer of film and television -First film in 1972 is lost -only filmmaker to make it out of blaxploitation -"Car Wash" (1976) critiques said it wasn't serious just funny -"Greased Lightning" (1977) -"Which Way is Up" (1977) starred Richard Pryor -"Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1978) TRAIN WRECK
Gina Prince-Bythewood
-director and screenwriter -directed "Love & Basketball" (2000), "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008), "Beyond the Lights" (2014) -Spike Lee helped her produce her film in 2000
Spike Lee
-director, producer, writer, and actor -His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983 -
O.J.: Made in America (2016)
-documentary, produced and directed by Ezra Edelman -about O. J. Simpson -premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (1959)
-doomsday film -written and directed by Ranald MacDougall -stars Harry Belafonte at the peak of his film career -Biracial relationships -feminism -civil rights movement -cold war
Blaxploitation
-emerged in the 1970s from UCLA -Film cycle not genre (raw, art films people didn't understand at the time) -aimed at an urban African-American audience -Hollywood realized the potential profit, and created a tax act for these directors to make independent films in the US (ends in 1976)
Malcolm X (1992)
-film about the Afro-American activist Malcolm X -Directed and co-written by Spike Lee -stars Denzel Washington in the title role -supporting role, while Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and future South Africa president Nelson Mandela -Spike Lee advertised this movie with merchandise of the famous "X"
Dorothy Dandridge
-film and theatre actress, singer, and dancer. -one of the most famous African-American actresses with a successful Hollywood career -first nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress ("Carmen Jones" 1954) -civil rights era
Barry Jenkins
-film director, producer, and screenwriter -positive responses to independent "Medicine for Melancholy" (2008), Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature -eight-year hiatus -directed and co-wrote LGBT-themed independent "Moonlight" (2016) -Best Picture and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture -Academy Award nomination for Best Director and jointly won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay -became the 4th black person to be nominated for Best Director and the 2nd black person to direct a Best Picture winner
Ava DuVernay
-film director, producer, screenwriter, film marketer, and film distributor -won the directing award in the 2012 Sundance Film Festival becoming the first black woman to win the award -first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award -first black female director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture -nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature -vocal in press (advocated for herself) -pressured studios -all her films lost money
John Singleton
-film director, screenwriter, and producer -directed "Boyz n the Hood" (1991) -nominated for A. A. for Best Director -first African American and youngest person to have ever been nominated for the award
Melvin Van Peebles
-filmmaker during blaxploitation -"sweet sweet back's bada*** song" (1971) -he turned down big offers for this film and ended up funding himself
Jim Brown
-former professional American football player and actor -"100 Rifles" (1969) seen shirtless as a sex symbol -acted in a few blaxploitation films
Get Out (2017)
-horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele -about a young black man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he meets the family of his white girlfriend. -a lot of anger for not winning best picture in 2017 -Critics praised the screenplay, direction, acting, and satirical themes.
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
-independent action thriller film written, co-produced, scored, edited, directed by and starring Melvin Van Peebles -son Mario Van Peebles also appears in a small role -began to develop the film after being offered a three-picture contract for Columbia Pictures -No studio would finance the film -he funded the film himself, shooting it independently over a period of 19 days -performed all of his own stunts and appearing in several sex scenes, reportedly unsimulated
Daughters of the Dust (1991)
-independent film written, directed and produced by Julie Dash -first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States. -about holding onto African tradition -abstract film
Jamaa Fanaka
-leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion film movement -"Welcome Home Brother Charles" 1975 (sexual) -writing out of Jamaa in this history -His films weren't art films they were entertainment.
Charles Burnett
-most famous filmmaker to come out of the blaxploitation era. -"Killer of Sheep" (1977) controversy of when it was really released. -rerelease in 2004. (one of greatest films of all time but few have seen) -black and white film for artistic purpose -"my brother's wedding" 1983 for film festivals, but no one bought tickets to see until 2008
Way Down South (1939)
-musical film directed by Leslie Goodwins and Bernard Vorhaus -written by Clarence Muse who also acted in the film with Langston Hughes -musical -nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring.
Porgy and Bess (1959)
-musical film directed by Otto Preminger -a story that touches on rape and women who stay with abusive men - stars Sidney Poitier (Porgy), Dorothy Dandridge (Bess), and Sammy Davis Jr.
Curtis Mayfield
-musician and actor -played himself in "Superfly" (1971)
Imitation of Life (1934)
-named by Time in 2007 as one of "The 25 Most Important Films on Race". -
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
-originally called The Clansman -silent epic drama film directed and co-produced by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. -three hours long -a success, though highly controversial for its portrayal of black men (white actors in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women, and the portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic force.
Gordon Parks
-photographer, musician, writer and film director -photojournalism in the 1940s-1970s (issues of civil rights, poverty, and African-Americans) -first black director in major company -"The Learning Tree" and "Cotton Comes to Harlem"
Sammy Davis Jr.
-preformed with famous white (Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin) -Friends with MLK -"Oceans 11" (1960) -supported Richard Nixon -campaigned for JFK but wasn't invited to the inauguration because he was married to a white woman -not that educated
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
-produced and directed by Stanley Kramer -starred Sidney Poitier -nominated for best picture against "The Graduate", "Dr Due Little", and "Bonny and Clyde" -depict an interracial marriage in a positive light, as interracial marriage historically had been illegal in most states
Stormy Weather (1943)
-produced and released by 20th Century Fox -all African-American cast -musical film -performers in the movie were Cab Calloway and Fats Waller (both appearing as themselves), the Nicholas Brothers dancing duo, comedian F. E. Miller, singer Ada Brown, and Katherine Dunham with her dance troupe.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
-produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee -story of a Brooklyn neighborhood's racial tension, resulting in tragedy on a hot summer day
Jackie Robinson
-professional baseball player who became the first African American in MLB -"The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950) biographical film directed by Alfred E. Green starring Jackie Robinson as himself
Home of the Brave (1949)
-progressive film but seen as problematic (white explanation of race) -recurrent theme of diverse men being subjected to war and their individual reactions (jungle combat against the Japanese in World War II)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
-received positive reviews upon its release -10 Academy Awards from 13 nominations (wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress -Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award -set records for total number wins and nominations at the time -criticized as historical revisionism glorifying slavery, and credited with changes in the way African Americans are depicted cinematically.
Haile Gerima
-ring leader of la rebellion -from africa and went to ucla. -created a group of filmmakers and educated them about political matters so they would create different films -"Child of Resistance" short story -"Bush Mama" 1975 - 'answerable' by him (wife is non-politicized and at the end she takes off her wig and holds up a sign) -"Harvest: 3,000 years" 1980 in Ethiopia -"Ashes and embers" 1982 about a war vet dealing with ptsd -"Sankofa" 1993 complicated film about slavery (on a list for best african american films) -he created his own company to produce and distribute his movie because no other company would
Demolition Man (1993)
-science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla -stars Sylvester Stallone -futuristic but touches on present day problems (police brutality)
Within Our Gates (1920)
-silent film by the director Oscar Micheaux -portrays the years of Jim Crow, the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, the Great Migration of blacks to cities of the North and Midwest, and the emergence of the "New Negro" -part of a genre called race films
Lena Horne
-singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist. -career spanned over 70 years appearing in film, television, and theater. -never a lead actress -Lloyd Binford would cut her parts out of films in Memphis -"Cabin in the Sky" (1943) black cast musical for mainstream audience, but wasn't approved by Hollywood because they wanted to show diversity.
Paul Robeson
-stage and film actor -football player -"Show Boat" (1936)
Gilbert Moses
-stage, screen, and television director -co-founder of the Free Southern Theater company that ran through the south
Richard Pryor
-standup comedian, actor, and social critic. -idolized by Eddie Murphy
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
-tap dancer and actor, the best known and most highly paid African-American entertainer -roles were all "Uncle Tom" characters -name rarely seen in credits -
The Nicholas Brothers
-team of tap dancing brothers -featured in the movie "Stormy Weather" (1943)
L.A. Rebellion
-ucla filmmakers in 1970s and 80s -wanted to create art films that were political -most independent films and some were recognized in theaters
Lincoln Perry (aka Stepin Fetchit)
-vaudevillian, comedian and film actor, of Jamaican descent -considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career -labeled as a "coon" or the dumb comedian guy in films
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
-won best picture -racist sheriff and black smart detective are forced to work together to salve crime. -stars Sidney Poitier
Philadelphia (1993)
-written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme -stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington -touches on legal limitations for gays -made to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia
Killer of Sheep (1977)
-written, directed, produced, and shot by Charles Burnett. -during blaxploitation -controversy of when it was really released. rerelease in 2004. -one of greatest films of all time but few have seen -black and white film for artistic purpose
Harlem Nights (1989)
-written, executive produced, and directed by Eddie Murphy. -Murphy co-stars with Richard Pryor -guys running a nightclub in late-1930s Harlem while contending with gangsters and corrupt police officials. -nomination for Worst Director at the Golden Raspberry Awards, his only directorial effort -"won" Worst Screenplay
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Stars Eddie Murphy, a street-smart Detroit cop who visits Beverly Hills, California to solve the murder of his best friend (who is white).
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks
TOMS- sweet "uncle" who cares for young whites. seen as non threatening. COON- dumb, comedic guy who every one laughs at and not with. MULATTOE- biracial character who's life is terrible because they aren't fully white for black. MAMMY- black domestic female who is bigger and sassy. she helps they white family BUCK- Threatening and needs to be overcome