Crucial Scene Setting

Enduring appeal

Photo by Jill Marv on Unsplash

Do you know that:

• A movie is a motion picture;

• A flick is a movie with less important or lighthearted context;

• A film is a motion picture with more artistic or critical context;

• The black film industry began during the silent film era (mid-1890s - early 1930s);

• Lester Walton started writing film criticism in 1908 for the national mainstream Black newspaper New York Age, and his reviews and insights remain foundational for subsequent Black film literature;

• Novelist, Oscar Micheaux, adapted one of his works, The Homesteader, and is credited as the first Black filmmaker to write, produce, and direct a feature-length film (1919) and later to produce a sound movie (1931); or

• Maria P. Williams is credited as the first Black woman film producer for the 5-reel silent drama based on her screenplay, Flames of Wrath (1923)?

Because there is always a need to disengage from the current (mentally harmful) ideological/political environment, there is reason to embroil in either of the following:

Bob Marley ‘Come A Long Way’ – a documentary by Dylan Taite. (1979)

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Murder in Harlem – a film by Oscar Micheaux that provides a window into American views on race. (1935)

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Founding Fathers – the documentary narrated by Public Enemy’s, Chuck D, on the true history of hip hop.

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The Jackie Robinson Story – a film retracing the life and times of the great baseball player and civil rights figure and starring Jackie Robinson. (1950)

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Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life – the musical short featuring Duke Ellington’s early extended piece, “A Rhapsody of Negro Life,” and starring 19-year-old Billie Holiday. (1935)

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This is Ska – a documentary filmed entirely in Kingston, Jamaica and featuring performances by a who’s who of up-and-coming ska artists, including Prince Buster, and Jimmy Cliff and The Maytals. (1964)

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The Cry of Jazz – the controversial film by Ed Bland exploring issues around Black Americans and jazz, and including interviews with artists and intellectuals and performances by Sun Ra and John Gilmore. In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. (1958)

Because filmmaking is non-linear, it’s similar to living, and that makes us each a movie star!