Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
Afro-American Film Festival
![poster for Walt Disney's musical feature film "Song of The South" [1946]](images/pWDsongofthesouth-orange-big.jpg "poster for Walt Disney's musical feature film \"Song of The South\" [1946]")
This webpage was built without racist beliefs or intent. You will notice that anything
seeming to be racist herein was filmed or written by others 50 to 100 years ago.
B o o k s
 | "Slow Fade To Black: The Negro In American Film, 1900-1942" [1977] by Thomas Cripps Oxford Univ Press pb [2/77] for $34.99 Oxford Univ Press hardcover [2/77] out of print/used |
 | "Frame By Frame, Volume I: A Black Filmography" [1979] by Phyllis R. Klotman Indiana Univ Press 8¾x6 pb [2/98] for $64.95 Indiana Univ Press 9¾x6¾ hardcover [12/97] out of print/used "Frame By Frame, Volume II: A Filmography of The African American Image, 1978-1994" [1997] by Phyllis R. Klotman & Gloria J. Gibson Indiana Univ Press 9x6 pb [6/97] for $39.95 Indiana Univ Press 9¾x6¾ hardcover [6/97] out of print/rare |
 | "Unspeakable Images: Ethnicity and The American Cinema" [1991] Edited by Lester D. Friedman Univ IL Press 8¾x6 pb [4/91] for $22.00 Univ IL Press 9½x6½ hardcover [4/91] out of print/used |
 | "Black Cinema Treasures: Lost and Found" [1991] by George William Jones Univ North TX Press 9½x6¼ pb [2/97] for $17.95 Univ North TX Press 8¾x6¼ hardcover [8/91] for $29.95 |
 | "A Separate Cinema: Fifty Years of Black-Cast Posters" [1992] by John Kisch & Edward Mapp, Preface by Spike Lee, Introduction by Donald Bogle Noonday Press 11x8½ pb [11/92] out of print/many used FS&G 11&fracx9 hardcover [11/92] out of print/used |
 | "Redefining Black Film" [1993] by Mark A. Reid Univ CA Press 9x6 pb [2/93] for $19.95 Univ CA Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [2/93] out of print/used |
 | "Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Message Movie From World War II To The Civil Rights Era" [1993] by Thomas Cripps
Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6¼ pb [5/93] for $44.99 Oxford Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [5/93] out of print/used |
 | "Black American Cinema" [1993] from A.F.I.; edited by Manthia Diawara Routledge 9x6 pb [8/93] for $29.95 Routledge 9½x6¼ hardcover [8/93] for $115.00 "Black American Cinema Reconsidered" [2006] from A.F.I.; edited by Manthia Diawara & Mia Mask Routledge 9x6 pb [12/2006] for $24.95 Routledge 9x6 hardcover [12/2006] for $85.00 |
 | "Framing Blackness: The African American Image In Film" [1993] by Ed Guerrero Temple Univ Press 9¼x6¼ pb [11/93] for $21.24 Temple Univ Press 9&frac13x6½ hardcover [11/93] out of print/used |
 | "Black Film / White Money" [1996] by Jesse Algeron Rhines Rutgers Univ Press 9x6 pb [5/96] for $22.95 Rutgers Univ Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [5/96] for $59.00 |
 | "The Black 100: A Ranking of The Most Influential African-Americans, Past and Present" [orig 1993, rev 1998] by Colombus Salley Beyond the obvious – Martin Luther King, Jr. #1 & Frederick Douglass #2 – Afro-Ameri-can artists & entertainers who made this list include Paul Robeson #24, Langston Hughes #34, Alex Haley #48, James Baldwin #49, Richard Wright #50, Zora Neale Hurston #52, Bill Cosby #62, Duke Ellington #67, Louis Armstrong #68, Toni Morrison #73, Lorraine Hansberry #77, Oscar Micheaux #81, Maya Angelou #85, Dick Gregory #88, Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis #91, Harry Belafonte #92 & Marian Anderson #94 Citadel Press 9x6 pb [rev 1/98] for $18.21 Citadel Press hardcover [2/93] out of print/used |
 | "What It Is . . . What It Was!: The Black Film Explosion of The '70s In Words & Pictures" [1998] by Gerald Martinez, Denise Chavez & Andres Chavez
Miramax Books 10¾x8½ pb [10/98] out of print/used |
 | "On The Real Side: A History of African American Comedy" [1999] by Mel Watkins Covers historical folktales, blackface minstrelsy, race records, and all-black shows & films; featured performers include Stepin Fetchit, the Amos 'n' Andy show, Bert Williams, Moms Mabley, Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy & Bill Cosby Lawrence Hill Books 9x6 pb [5/99] for $13.22 |
 | "Struggles For Representation: African American Documentary Film & Video" [2000] Edited by Phyllis R. Klotman & Janet K. Cutler Indiana Univ Press pb [1/2000] for $24.95out of print/used |
 | "Black Film As A Signifying Practice: Cinema, Narration & The African American Aesthetic Tradition" [2000] by Gladstone L. Yearwood
Africa World Press 8¼x5¾ pb [1/2000] for $21.95 Africa World Press 8¾x5¾ hardcover [1/2000] out of print/used |
 | "Slaves on Screen: Film and Historical Vision" [2000] by Natalie Zemon Davis Harvard Univ Press 8x5 pb [3/2002] for $20.50 Random House of Canada 8x5½ pb [9/2000] out of print/used Harvard Univ Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [9/2000] out of print/used |
 | "The 50 Most Influential Black Films: Movies That Changed The Way We See America" [2000] by S. Torriano Berry, with Venise T. Berry
Kensington/Citadel 9x6 pb [11/2000] out of print/used |
 | "Reel Racism: Confronting Hollywood's Construction of Afro-American Culture" [2000] by Vincent F. Rocchio Westview Press 9x6 pb [12/2000] for $37.00 out of print/used |
 | "Prime Time Blues: African Americans On Network Television" [2001] by Donald Bogle FS&G 8½x5½ pb [2/2002] out of print/used FS&G 9½x6½ hardcover [2/2001] out of print/many used |
 | "Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks In American Films" [1973 bestseller, rev 2001] by Donald Bogle
Continuum 4th edition 9x6 pb [12/2001] out of print/used Continuum 4th edition 9x6¼ hardcover [9/2003] out of print/used |
 | "Literary Adaptations In Black American Cinema: From Micheaux To Toni Morrison" [2002] by Barbara Tepa Lupack
Univ Rochester Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [9/2002] for $65.00 |
 | "Black Manhood On The Silent Screen" [2002] by Gerald R. Butters, Jr. Univ Press of Kansas 8¼x5¾ hardcover [10/2002] for $35.00 |
 | "Black City Cinema: African American Urban Experiences In Film" [2003] by Paula J. Massood Temple Univ Press 9x6 pb [1/2003] for $22.95 Temple Univ Press 9½x6 hardcover [1/2003] for $72.50 |
 | "Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About The Magic of Cinema" [2003] by George Alexander interviewees include Camille Billops, Charles Burnett, Julie Dash, Ernest Dickerson, Antoine Fuqua, Haile Gerima, William Greaves, Reginald & Warrington Hudlin, Malcolm Lee, Spike Lee, Doug McHenry, Stanley Nelson, Euzhan Palcy, Gordon Parks, John Singleton, George Tillman Jr., Robert Townsend, Melvin Van Peebles, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Forrest Whitaker, Fred Williamson & others Harlem Moon 9¼x7½ pb [2/2003] for $15.95 |
 | "Colored Pictures: Race & Visual Representation" [2003] by Michael D. Harris, Forward by Moyo Okediji Univ NC Press 10½x6¾ pb [2/2006] for $26.25 Univ NC Press 10¾x7¼ hardcover [3/2003] out of print/used |
 | "America On Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality At The Movies" [2003] by Harry M. Benshoff & Sean Griffin Wiley-Blackwell 2nd Edition 9½x7½ pb [1/2009] for $35.95 Wiley-Blackwell 9½x6½ pb [10/2003] for $39.15 Wiley-Blackwell 9¾x6¾ hardcover [10/2003] for $112.69 |
 | "Black Directors In Hollywood" [2003] by Melvin Donalson Univ TX Press 8¾x6¾ pb [12/2003] for $29.95 Univ TX Press 9x7 hardcover [12/2003] out of print/used |
 | "Black Magic: White Hollywood and African American Culture" [2004] by Krin Gabbard Rutgers Univ Press 9¼x6¼ pb [5/2004] for $22.95 Rutgers Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [5/2004] out of print/used |
 | "Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood" [2005] by Donald Bogle One World/Ballantine 8x5 pb [1/2006] for $10.85 One World/Ballantine 9x6 hardcover [1/2005] out of print/used |
 | "Black Lenses, Black Voices: African American Film Now" [2005] by Mark A. Reid Rowman & Littlefield 9x5¾ pb [4/2005] for $22.95 Rowman & Littlefield 9x6 hardcover [4/2005] for $83.00 |
 | "The Great Black Way: L.A. In The 1940s & The Lost Negro Renaissance" [2006] by R.J. Smith PublicAffairs pb [8/2007] for $11.53 PublicAffairs 9¼x6½ hardcover [6/2006] for $26.95 |
 | "Women of Blaxploitation: How The Black Action Film Heroine Changed American Popular Culture" [2006] by Yvonne D. Sims
McFarland & Co. 8¾x6 pb [9/2006] for $31.50 |
 | "Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema" [2007] by S. Torriano Berry & Venise T. Berry Scarecrow Press 8½x5¾ hardcover [1/2007] for $85.00 |
 | "We Gotta Have It: Twenty Years of Seeing Black At The Movies, 1986-2006" [2007] by Esther Iverem Da Capo Press 8¾x6 pb [4/2007] for $14.00 |
 | "Brown Sugar: Over One Hundred Years of America's Black Female Superstars" [2007] by Donald Bogle featuring profiles of Marian Anderson, Pearl Bailey, Josephine Baker, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Beyoncé, Lisa Bonet, Dorothy Dandridge, Aretha Franklin, Whoopi Goldberg, Pam Grier, Jasmine Guy, Lauren Hill, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Eartha Kitt, Queen Latifah, Leontyne Price, Ma Rainey, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Donna Summer, Ethel Waters, and Oprah Winfrey Continuum 'updated' 9¾x6¾ pb [6/2007] for $28.75 |
 | "African Americans and The Oscar®: Decades of Struggle and Achievement" [2008] by Edward Mapp Kindle Edition from Scarecrow Press [3/2013] for $13.17 Scarecrow Press 8½x5½ pb [1/2008] for $22.40 Scarecrow Press 9x5¾ hardcover [1/2008] for $60.00 |
 | "The Colored Cartoon: Black Representation In American Animated Short Films, 1907‑1954" [2008] by Christopher P. Lehman
Univ MA Press 9x6¼ hardcover [2/2008] for $23.96 |
 | "Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide" [2008] by Josiah Howard FAB Press 9¾x7½ pb [6/2008] for $18.45 |
 | "Hazel Scott: The Pioneering Journey of A Jazz Pianist From Cafe Society To Hollywood To H.U.A.C." [2008] by Karen Chilton Univ MI Press 9x6 hardcover [9/2008] for $19.77 |
http://www.amazon.com/Mixed-Race-Hollywood-Mary-Beltran/dp/0814799884/
http://www.amazon.com/High-Contrast-Gender-Contemporary-Hollywood/dp/082232041X/
http://www.amazon.com/African-American-Films-Through-1959/dp/0786422742/
"African American in Film and Television" [4/2003] by Cookie Lommel
http://www.amazon.com/African-American-Film-Television-Mosaic/dp/0791072681/
"Blacks in Film" [8/2008] by William W. Lace
http://www.amazon.com/Blacks-Lucent-Library-Black-History/dp/1420500848/
"Hollywood's African American Films: The Transition to Sound" [6/2011] by Ryan Jay Friedman
http://www.amazon.com/Hollywoods-African-American-Films-Transition/dp/0813550491/
"Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present" [6/2011] by Robin R. Means Coleman
http://www.amazon.com/Horror-Noire-Blacks-American-Present/dp/0415880203/
"Blaxploitation Films" [7/2011] by Mikel J. Koven
http://www.amazon.com/Blaxploitation-Films-ebook/dp/B005E7AMGG/
"African American Theater Buildings: An Illustrated Historical Directory, 1900-1955" [7/2011] by Eric Ledell Smith
http://www.amazon.com/African-American-Theater-Buildings-Illustrated/dp/0786449225/
 | "White Robes, Silver Screens: Movies and The Making of The Ku Klux Klan" [2015] by Tom Rice Kindle Edition from Indiana Univ Press [11/2015] for $27.99 {sic} Indiana Univ Press pb [12/2015] for $23.80 Indiana Univ Press hardcover [12/2015] for $80.00 |
Afro-American Filmmakers
Charles Burnett
browse Charles Burnett on DVD •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
  |
"Killer of Sheep" [original 1977; re-released 2007]
Long considered a prime example of independent film-making; taught in film schools while until recently not availabale for viewing (due to music rights restrictions). A black man in South Central Los Angeles is disconnected from his wife and his son & daughter and is unable to sleep, while working long hours at the local slaughterhouse • Produced, written, directed & edited by Charles Burnett; starring Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett, Eugene Cherry & Jack Drummond; won FIPRESCI Prize at Berlin International Film Festival (1981); listed on the first National Film Registry (1990); listed on Time Magazine's All-TIME 100 Movies Revisited (5/2012) full credits from IMDb • official movie site New Yorker/Milestone b&w DVD [11/2007] 2 disks for $29.99 this DVD set also includes four short films by Burnett and his second feature film: "My Brother's Wedding" [shelved 1983; released 2007] A black man working at a dry cleaner in South Central Los Angeles agrees to be best man for his ambitious lawyer brother, whom he despises • Produced, written & directed by Charles Burnett; starring Everett Silas, Jessie Holmes, Gaye Shannon-Burnett, Ronnie Bell, Dennis Kemper & Sally Easter; full credits from IMDb |
"Nightjohn" TV movie [1996] by Charles Burnett /tt0117180/
· ·
Magic Lantern's
filmmaker Spike Lee Page
'race' filmmaker Oscar Micheaux [1884-1951]
| Oscar Micheaux, the son of freed slaves, worked as a Pullman porter and homestead farmer, and wrote autobiographical novels; when Hollywood wouldn't buy his stories, he took up filmmaking in 1919 (at age 35). He was more skilled at marketing movies than at making them, yet the 40-plus films that he produced over a 30-year span shed valuable light on the harsh realities of African American life. His career began to fizzle, along with race films, in the late 1930s, and he died in obscurity. Two-thirds of Micheaux's films are lost, and those surviving are mostly truncated by censorship. |
Magic Lantern's Oscar Micheaux Page
· ·
filmmaker Clarence Muse [1889-1979]
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
· ·
director Euzhan Palcy of France
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
· ·
director Gordon Parks [1912-2006]
browse Gordon Parks on DVD • IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
Gordon Parks Center for Culture & Diversity [est. 2004]
· ·
Magic Lantern's
writer-director-actor Tyler Perry Page
· ·
actor-filmmaker Robert Townsend
browse Robert Townsend on DVD •
official website •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
· ·
Melvin Van Peebles
browse Melvin Van Peebles on DVD • IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
"The Story Behind Baadasssss!: The Birth of Black Cinema"
[Columbia/M.V.P. Sept 2004]
Behind-the-scenes look at the making of both "Sweetback" [1971] and "Baadassssss!" [2004];
video/DVD not available;
full credits from IMDb
 |
"Baadassssss!"aka "How To Get The Man's Foot Outta Your Ass" [Sony May 2004] Mario's documentary/homage to his father's historic 1971 film that was key in birthing Independent Black Cinema. Co-written & directed by and starring Mario Van Peebles (based on the book, below) Sony widescreen color DVD [9/2004] for $17.99 Sony color VHS [1/2005] out of prodn/used B.B.E. soundtrack CD [6/2004] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • official movie site {requires Flash} • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: A Guerilla Filmmaking Manifesto" [2004] by Melvin Van Peebles Thunder's Mouth Press mass pb [8/2004] for $11.86 |
 | "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" [indep April 1971] Written, co-produced, directed & edited by and starring Melvin Van Peebles, with Simon Chuckster, Hubert Scales, John Dullaghan & young Mario Van Peebles Xenon color DVD [1/2003] for $17.99 Xenon color VHS [2/2002] out of prodn/used Stax soundtrack CD [11/99] 2 disks / out of prodn/rare full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia 11"x17" white poster from Amazon for $9.99 screenplay, diaries & soundtrack CD Interlink pb [9/96] out of print/used |
Melvin's son actor-director Mario Van Peebles
browse DVDs at Amazon: as director & as actor • IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
· ·
actor-director Egbert Austin 'Bert' Williams [1874-1922]
Afro-American comic performer Bert Williams shocked New York as a black featured in an otherwise all-white cast
in The Ziegfeld Follies, but by late 1910 he was a top star on Broadway, and Columbia Records signed him to an
exclusive recording contract. In 1916, Biograph signed Williams to write, produce, direct, and star in two comedy
short films; he created "A Natural Born Gambler" [1916] and "Fish" [1916], and made history as
the first Afro-American movie star •
IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
watch "A Natural Born Gambler" free online at Internet Archive
"Nobody: The Story of Bert Williams" [Macmillan, 1970] by Ann Charters
"The Last 'Darky': Bert Williams, Black-on-Black Minstrelsy & The African Diaspora"
[Duke UP, 2005] by Louis Chude-Sokei
"Dancing In The Dark: A Novel About Bert Williams" [Knopf, 2005]
by Caryl Phillips ISBN 1-4000-4396-4.
"Introducing Bert Williams: Burnt Cork, Broadway, and the Story of America's First Black Star"
[Basic Civitas, 2008] by Camille F. Forbes
· ·
actor-director Spencer Williams [1893-1969]
browse Spencer Williams on DVD • IMDb listing •
Wikipedia
"Blood of Jesus" [1941] adapted & directed by & starring Spencer Williams
"Go Down Death" [1944] directed by & starring Spencer Williams
"Juke Joint" [1947] directed by & starring Spencer Williams
portrayed Andrew H. Brown in the "Amos 'n' Andy" TV series [CBS 1951-53]
 | "Spencer Williams Collection" on DVD [2004]
Echo Bridge Home Ent. DVD [1/2004] 4 movies for $4.98 includes "The Bronze Buckaroo" [1939] written & directed by Richard C. Kahn, starring Herb Jeffries, with Spencer Williams as a henchman; "Blood of Jesus" [1941] adapted & directed by & starring Spencer Williams; "Go Down Death" [1944] directed by & starring Spencer Williams; and "Juke Joint" [1947] directed by & starring Spencer Williams |
L i n k s
70's Blaxploitation fansite
African-American genre at Internet Movie Database
"Midnight Ramble: The Negro In Early Hollywood" pages
Black Film Center / Archive [est. 1981] at IU-Bloomington
A Cinema Apart: African American Film Memorabilia 1920-1959
blackfilm.com {last update June 2008}
Black Hollywood Education & Resource Center [est. 1996] in Los Angeles, CA
'Black Folks Make Movies' race films lecture/fansite
Separate Cinema Archive [est. 1972] in Hyde Park, NY
Black Film History website [est. 2004]
Black Entertainment Television [est. 1980]
Black Flix website (est. 1/2002]
Ajente: Urban Entertainment website [est. 1998]
Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame [est. 1973] in Oakland, CA {website expired 2008}
Black Film and Video Network in Canada {website gone 2009}
Pan-African Film Festival [Feb 2004 = #12] in Los Angeles, CA
The African American Cinema Society & Archive [est. 1976]
Afro-American Racist Stereotypes in Media
Biography Channel Black History Dept. timeline & videos
February 2017 article 'Forgotten Treasures of Black Women's Cinema' at New Yorker Magazine
![Hollywood Black Film Festival [Feb]](images/HwdBFF.gif "Hollywood Black Film Festival [Feb]")
![American Black Film Festival [June 2013 = #17] in South Beach Miami, Florida](images/AmericanBlackFF.jpg "American Black Film Festival [June 2013 = #17] in South Beach Miami, Florida")
![The National Museum of African American History and Culture [opened 2015] in Washington, DC](images/AfroAmericanMuseumDC.jpg "The National Museum of African American History and Culture [opened 2015] in Washington, DC")
Visit Our Other Online Film Festival Pages
Magic Lantern's Afro-American Film Festival Pages « « you are here
Atomic Film Festival at Spirit of America Bookstore
Auto-Racing Movies Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Ayn Rand Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Baseball Movies Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Beatnik Film Festival at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore
'Biker Movies' Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Boxing Movies Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Circus Film Festival at Spirit of America Bookstore
Classic Movies & Cinema Masters Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Culver City, California Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Cyber Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Economics Film Festival at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore
Education Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Existentialist Film Festival at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore
Films Noir Festival at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore
Football Movies Film Festival at Magic Lantern
47 Rônin / Chüshingura Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Gangster Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Hollywood Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Horse-Racing Movies Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Human Rights Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Kings & Queens Film Festival at Magic Lantern
'Knights of Yore' Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Labor Movement Film Festival at Spirit of America Bookstore
Movie Musicals Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Muscle-Head Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Native American Film Festival at 'Readers of the Purple Sage' Bookstore
Oscar-Winning Western Movies Page at 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Bookstore
Philosophy Film Festival at Maison d'Être Philosophy Bookstore
Pirate Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Political Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Railroad Film Festival at Spirit of America Bookstore
'Rat Race' Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Road Movies Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Rock Music Film Festival at Spirit of America Bookstore
Samurai Films at Magic Lantern
Science Fiction Film Festival at Magic Lantern
'Shakespeare On Film' Festival at Magic Lantern
Sherlock Holmes Film Festival at BlackHat Mystery Bookstore
Sports Film Festival at Magic Lantern
War [& Anti-War] Film Festival at Magic Lantern
Western Movies Film Festival at 'Readers of The Purple Sage' Bookstore
... and others on the Online Film Festivals Index Page
here on Magic Lantern's Afro-American Film Festival Pages
here on page one: short history • books • filmmakers • links
on page two: actors & actresses • collections • documentaries • selected movie music
on page three: selected films & TV
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