Edited with text by Doris Berger, Rhea L. Combs. Foreword by Whoopi Goldberg. Text by Donald Bogle, Cara Caddoo, Terri Simone Francis, Michael Boyce Gillespie, J. Raúl Guzmán, Shola Lynch, Ron Magliozzi, Ellen C. Scott, Jacqueline N. Stewart.
The overlooked yet vibrant history of Black participation in American film, from the beginning of cinema through the civil rights movement
From the dawn of the medium onward, Black filmmakers have helped define American cinema. Black performers, producers and directors—Bert Williams, Oscar Micheaux, Herb Jeffries, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Ruby Dee and William Greaves, to name just a few—had a vast and resounding impact. Black film artists not only developed an enduring independent tradition but also transformed mainstream Hollywood, fueled and reflected sociopolitical movements, captured Black experience in all its robust complexity, and influenced generations to come. As harrowing as it is beautiful, this history of Black cinema and its legacy is often overlooked. Regeneration accompanies a first-of-its-kind exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures exploring seven decades of Black participation in American cinema. Amplifying this underrepresented history in colorful and striking detail, the book features an in-depth curatorial essay and scholarly case-study texts on topics such as early Black independent filmmaking, Black spectatorship during the Jim Crow era and home movies as an essential form of Black self-representation. The volume also makes meaningful connections to the present through interviews with award-winning contemporary Black filmmakers Charles Burnett, Julie Dash, Ava DuVernay, Barry Jenkins and Dawn Porter. An extensive filmography and chronology offer an essential resource for anyone interested in Black cinema, while images of contemporary visual artworks further illustrate the volume throughout.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Financial Times
Mekeisha Madden
Evokes the pride of cultural acknowledgment and serves as a dismaying reminder of the pernicious effects of racism and discrimination over the decades.
New York Times
Manohla Dargis
A sense of doubleness reverberates throughout the show as it continues to chart year after year of bigotry and resistance, institutional repression and artistic sovereignty, struggles that were literally embodied by performers working in old Hollywood and outside its cruelly restrictive gates.
Midwest Book Review
Comprised of erudite essays, illustrative case studies ... Simply outstanding.
Brooklyn Rail
Phyllis Tuchman
Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 is jam packed with treasures and revelations … [An] astonishing, well-paced journey through seven-plus decades of movie history.
Oprah Daily
Hamilton Cain
This one wins Oscars in multiple categories.
Oprah Daily
Hamilton Cain
This one wins Oscars in multiple categories.
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"It is of the utmost importance that a black child see on that screen someone who looks like him," James Baldwin wrote in 1968. "Our children have been suffering from the lack of identifiable images for as long as our children have been born." For film lovers and students of Black history alike, Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971 is an absolute must. Releasing this week from DelMonico Books and Academy Museum of Motion Pictures—where the corresponding exhibition is on view through February 4, 2023—this scholarly, 288-page visual goldmine presents the remarkable, overlooked history of Black representation in American cinema, from the silent film era through the Black Power movement. Featured image is a production still of Fayard and Harold Nicholas in the 1943 all-Black musical comedy, Stormy Weather. continue to blog
"The ugliness of bigotry makes the exhibition the more inspirational. There is beauty and power in seeing the faces of 51 black stars of the silver screen." On view now at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and releasing October 18, 2022 in book form, Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971 is reviewed in this week's Financial Times. Below is an excerpt of Mekeisha Madden Toby's excellent review. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 12 in. / 288 pgs / 80 color / 182 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $49.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $65.95 GBP £41.00 ISBN: 9781636810515 PUBLISHER: DelMonico Books/Academy Museum of Motion Pictures AVAILABLE: 10/18/2022 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by DelMonico Books/Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Edited with text by Doris Berger, Rhea L. Combs. Foreword by Whoopi Goldberg. Text by Donald Bogle, Cara Caddoo, Terri Simone Francis, Michael Boyce Gillespie, J. Raúl Guzmán, Shola Lynch, Ron Magliozzi, Ellen C. Scott, Jacqueline N. Stewart.
The overlooked yet vibrant history of Black participation in American film, from the beginning of cinema through the civil rights movement
From the dawn of the medium onward, Black filmmakers have helped define American cinema. Black performers, producers and directors—Bert Williams, Oscar Micheaux, Herb Jeffries, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Ruby Dee and William Greaves, to name just a few—had a vast and resounding impact. Black film artists not only developed an enduring independent tradition but also transformed mainstream Hollywood, fueled and reflected sociopolitical movements, captured Black experience in all its robust complexity, and influenced generations to come. As harrowing as it is beautiful, this history of Black cinema and its legacy is often overlooked.
Regeneration accompanies a first-of-its-kind exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures exploring seven decades of Black participation in American cinema. Amplifying this underrepresented history in colorful and striking detail, the book features an in-depth curatorial essay and scholarly case-study texts on topics such as early Black independent filmmaking, Black spectatorship during the Jim Crow era and home movies as an essential form of Black self-representation. The volume also makes meaningful connections to the present through interviews with award-winning contemporary Black filmmakers Charles Burnett, Julie Dash, Ava DuVernay, Barry Jenkins and Dawn Porter. An extensive filmography and chronology offer an essential resource for anyone interested in Black cinema, while images of contemporary visual artworks further illustrate the volume throughout.
