Images in Black and White:
20^th Century African American Film
Instructor: Matthew Henry
Office: C 208     Phone: 238-6080
e-mail: mah8420@dcccd.edu

Objectives:

This course is primarily designed to introduce students to African American film and filmmakers of the twentieth century, offering a look at films produced both inside and outside the Hollywood mainstream. It is intended to be a historically-informed overview of how film has situated the image of African American culture and identity since its inception, how such positioning has been dealt with by both black and white filmmakers, and how this has altered in relation to social and political circumstances over time. Although this is a very large body of material, and the course is thus selective, it attempts to offer as encompassing a perspective as possible.

Specifically, the course will examine the various representations of African Americans offered by both (mainly white) Hollywood—notably in Griffith’s Birth of a Nation—and by (mainly black) Independent cinema. In doing so, we must confront the problem of dichotomies and discuss those complicated areas of overlap between black/white and mainstream/independent; this is particularly relevant with Michael Roemer’s Nothing But a Man and with the more contemporary relationships between the Hollywood studios and black artists (writers, directors, etc.). We will also examine how both Hollywood and Independent cinemas either reproduce or contest the images and ideologies offered by mainstream media. Films are products of specific social and cultural circumstances, both influenced by and influencing the dominant ideologies of the day; therefore, we will examine how the artists behind the films and the films themselves respond, at least partially, to the cultural shifts taking place in America at given periods of time. Analysis of the films will thus revolve around their relation to social and political contexts as well as the cinematic techniques employed.

The course will also introduce students to the essential elements of the business of film (Production, Distribution, and Exhibition), the major concepts in the production of film as an art form (camera use, lighting, mise-en-scene, etc.) and methods for the analysis of film (both form and content). It does not require any prior knowledge of or experience with film studies.

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

• identify the essential elements of the business of film
• define specific film terms and identify examples within a film

• explain major developments in African American representation in black film
• identify significant contributions (directors, films, aesthetic changes) to black film
• provide an analysis of form and content in a representative text

Course Description:

Race and racism are indelible components of the history of the United States, and they have permeated most all aspects of American life: economic, political, social, cultural, and artistic. One of the fundamental obstacles to any discussion of "race" and artistic production is that we often speak only in the dichotomy of "black" and "white," collapsing into these two large categories the many distinctions that exist among many races. This course will explore the development of and variations to this dichotomy through the medium of film. Our focus throughout will be on the representations of black and white identity as they can be traced in the various artistic and cultural products of the twentieth century. In the process we will ask and attempt to answer numerous questions, including the following: What are the stereotypes that surround racial and ethnic identity? How does film function to perpetuate and/or contest certain ideologies? How are other media (e.g., television, advertising, music) implicated in this process? How is language involved (e.g., labels such as white, black, colored, Negro, African)? What defines a "black tradition" or a "black aesthetics" in relation to film? How have the issues, attitudes, and representations changed over the course of the century?

We will mainly follow the structure of the primary text for the course, Donald Bogle's Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks. Hence, the films and readings are presented chronologically (with a few deviations). A chronological arrangement allows us to examine the development of film as an art form, as well as the development of African American culture and identity as they are reflected in this art.

The course will use fifteen films as primary texts (please refer to the list of tentative titles below). These films are representative of the evolution of racial ideologies over the course of the century. Most of these texts are written and/or created by African Americans; a few are not. However, all of the texts are ones in which African Americans figure prominently, in the foreground rather than the background of American culture, which allows us to examine how they function in relation to the social and political contexts from which they arise.

The course will also utilize a reader of supplemental material, including theoretical essays and critical examinations of specific texts. These readings are designed to facilitate interpretation of the primary texts and an understanding of their place in relation to the broader context and attendant questions (please refer to the list of Essays in the Working Bibliography below).

Course Materials:

• Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. 3rd ed. NY: Continuum, 1994.
• William H. Phillips. Film: An Introduction. Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1999.

Films for Course: (tentative list)

Writing Assignments:

Response Papers:

During the semester, you will be responsible for submitting responses to the films and related readings. Paper length should be 2-3 pages, typewritten (12 point font or smaller). The response papers are intended to gauge your level of involvement with the texts and to see how your critical viewing and reading skills develop during the course. The response papers will ask you to look at both the content of the film and the formal elements. That is, to discuss what is being presented as well as how it is being presented. The responses should show that you have carefully thought about the films and read the texts and reflected upon these in a meaningful way. We will also make use of the responses during class, so be prepared to share your work and ideas.

Research Project:

You will also complete a research project for this class. The project will require you to choose a director from among those presented in class and then research his/her place in American film. Among other things, you will provide biographical information, a brief overview of the director’s career, a summary of the films he/she has made, and a discussion of the director's place in contemporary cinema. You will also choose one representative film from this director and offer an interpretive analysis based on what you have learned in the course (refer to the Research Project handout below for more specific details).

Go to Bibliography

Examinations:

There will be two examinations in this course: a mid-term and a final. The mid-term will test your knowledge of the material up to that point in the course. The format will be short essay, and the questions will deal with both general and specific concerns. It is expected that you will be able to enact close readings of film presented in class and be able to make links between these texts and the contexts in which they appear. Thus, the exam will pose specific questions on individual films regarding themes, styles, and "meaning," and larger questions regarding aesthetic trends, artists’ concerns, cultural context, etc. The final exam will be structured in the same way (short essay) and will cover material taken up in class since the mid-term. It will not be comprehensive for the entire semester.

Online Resources

"Black Independent Cinema and The Influence of Neo-Realism," by Chris Norton In (Images Journal)

http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue05/features/black.htm

Black Is...Black Ain't web page (from Independent Television Service)

http://www.itvs.org:sql/external/BIBA/index.html

The Movies, Race and Ethnicity (at Media Resources Center, UC Berkeley)

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/imagesafam.html

Oscar Micheaux (1885-1951), Pioneer Independent Filmmaker

http://geechee.com/Micheaux.html

African American Filmmakers—a list of names and bibliographic references

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/AfricanAmBib.html#individuals

Center for the Study of Black Literature and Culture

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/csblac/

Queer Cinema site

http://www.qcinema.com/

Cinema Web Film and Video

http://www.cinemaweb.com/

California Newsreel

http://www.newsreel.org/

Author: Matthew Henry
Last Modified on: 06/30/04
Thanks for visiting. Email me and let me know what you think: mah8420@dcccd.edu