Description
This SDG examines 10 exceptional films made by African-American directors, women and men, many of which were a struggle to make due to the film industry's structural racism and sexism. Yet these filmmakers persevered and produced lasting films. We'll be looking at films from two fruitful periods-- the 1990s when politicized young people at film schools like Julie Dash and Spike Lee created independent classics, and, recently, when Black activism opened up new gates for a blossoming of directorial talent. The films range in genre: from family and neighborhood drama, to comedy, to horror. Race, of course, is present, explicitly or implicitly, as well as other concerns-- gender, class, capitalism, police and gang violence, poverty, the role of the artist. Some questions to ponder: What differences in political stances do we see among these films? Without the white gaze, what do these artists bring to film that's new?
This is a Film Studies course, with emphasis on scene analysis: directing, acting, cinematography (camera movement, framing, lighting), editing, music etc. We are interested in how the art of film expresses each director's unique handling of his or her stories.
Weekly Topics
Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee, 1989
To Sleep with Anger, Charles Burnett, 1990
Daughters of the Dust, Julie Dash, 1991
Boyz in the Hood, John Singleton, 1991
Evie's Bayou, Kasi Lemmons, 1997
Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, 2016
Get Out, Jordan Peele, 2017
BlacKKKlansman, Spike Lee, 2018
Miss Juneteenth, Channing Godfrey Peeples, 2020
The Forty-Year Old Version, Radha Blank, 2020
You will be choosing scenes from your film to analyze during our sessions. In order to participate comfortably, your computer, DVD players and/or streaming devices must be up to speed. You'll need to use a desk computer, laptop, or iPad for class, not a Smartphone. If you're having problems with Zoom, this course won't work well for you.
All films are available from sources like Netflix, Amazon Prime, LAPL. Essays, reviews and articles can be found on the web for each film.
Bibliography
Christina N. Baker, Contemporary Black Women Filmmakers and the Art of Resistance, 2018.
Michael Boyce, Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film, 2016.
Allyson Field, L.A Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema, 2015.
Jesse Rhines, Black Film/White Money, 1996.
