African American Film History Guide

1 videodisc (56 min.) A look back to the early 1970s and the explosion of blaxploitation films, today one of American cinema's most beloved cult genres.

Videocassette (52 min.) History of the motion pictures made by black film makers between 1915 and 1950, including scenes from these films.

6 videocassettes (360 min.) Six part film series by Blackside, Inc. that is a celebration of some extraordinary achievements by African-American writers, dancers, painters, actors, musicians, and other influential artists of the 20th Century.

1 videodisc (55 min.) Black films of the 1920s through mid 1950s are shown as a mirror of the Black experience of the time. This program focuses on the works of filmmakers Spencer Williams, Oscar Micheaux, Eloyse Gist, and Clarence Muse.

1 videocassette (128 min.) Originally released as a motion picture in 1961, based on the stage play by Lorraine Hansberry. Film of the award-winning play about a struggling black family living on Chicago's South Side and the impact of an unexpected insurance bequest.

1 videocassette (171 min.) Originally aired in 1989, based on the stage play by Lorraine Hansberry. Based in a Chicago ghetto in the mid-1950's, A raisin in the sun is the story of the Younger family. The just-widowed mother, her son and his wife, and the sister live together and cope with bigotry and hatred, as well as the strains of everyday living.

2 videocassettes (171 min.) Originally aired in 1989, based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry. In a Chicago ghetto in the mid-1950s, the story of the Younger family is told. The just-widowed mother, her son and his wife, and the sister live together and cope with bigotry and hatred, as well as the strains of everyday living.

1 videocassette (78 min.) A reproduction of a single surviving print found in Spain retitled as La Negra. The original English intertitles remain lost. The intertitles here are a translation from Spanish back into English, and thus can only approximate Micheaux's originals.

2 videocassettes (159 min.) Presents early, classic silent films produced by and for African Americans. 1. Oscar Micheaux's Within our gates (1919) (79 min.) -- 2. The scar of shame (1926). Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake (1923) (80 min.)

3 videodiscs (564 min.) A collection of early feature and short films held by the Library of Congress's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division that illustrate the history of film from 1900-1926. disc 1. The African American cinema I. Oscar Micheaux's Within our gates (1919) (ca. 78 min.) ; The African American cinema II. The scar of shame (1926) with early sound short Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake (1923) (ca. 79 min.) -- disc 2. Origins of American animation : 21 complete classics (1900-1921) : Krazy Kat, Bobby Bumps and more (ca. 83 min.) ; Origins of the fantasy feature ; The patchwork girl of Oz (1914) ; and, A Florida enchantment (1914) (ca. 130 min.) -- disc 3. America's first women film makers : Alice Guy-Blaché and Lois Weber (ca. 112 min.) ; Origins of the gangster film. D.W. Griffith's The narrow road (1912) ; and, Alias Jimmy Valentine (1915) (ca. 82 min.).