Ted Sarandos

Miky Lee

Kimberly Steward

Jim Gianopulos

Patricia Bellinger Balzer

Jason Blum

Arnaud Boetsch

Laura Dern

David Dolby

Sidonie Seydoux Dumas

Sid Ganis

Olivier de Givenchy

Ray Halbritter

Tom Hanks

Dawn Hudson

Bill Kramer

David Linde

Eva Longoria

Ryan Murphy

Dominic Ng

Katherine L. Oliver

Alejandro Ramírez Magaña

David Rubin

Regina K. Scully

Emma Thomas

Kevin Yeaman

Doris Berger

Donald Bogle

Cara Caddoo

Rhea L. Combs

Terri Simone Francis

Michael Boyce Gillespie

Whoopi Goldberg

J. Raúl Guzmán

Shola Lynch

Ron Magliozzi

Ellen C. Scott

Jacqueline Stewart

Gary Dauphin

Lauren Girard

Erwin Hines

Yosuke Kitazawa

Kit Masaracchia

Adriana Siu de Olaso

Emily Rauber Rodriguez

Mike Schiro

Agnes Stauber

Chandini Tirunagaru

Connor Uretsky

Mike Vazquez

Savannah West

Dan Yalg

Something Good Negro Kiss

Bert Williams and Odessa Warren Grey in Lime Kiln Club Field Day (dir. Edwin Middleton, T. Hays Hunter, 1913), film stills. Courtesy Museum of Modern Art.

Bert Williams and Odessa Warren Grey in Lime Kiln Club Field Day

Louise Beavers in Reform School (dir. Leo C. Popkin, 1939), film still. Courtesy Academy Film Archive.

Fredi Washington (center) and Duke Ellington and his band in Black and Tan (1929). Core Collection, Production Files, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences


Fredi Washington (center) and Duke Ellington and his band in Black and Tan (1929)

Bill Robinson and Lena Horne in Stormy Weather (1943). Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Sidney Poitier with Diahann Carroll in Paris Blues (1961)

I am Somebody

Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971 explores the rich history of Black participation in American cinema from its beginnings to just beyond the civil rights movement. Inspired by and named after an independent all-Black-cast movie from 1923, Regeneration seeks to revive lost or forgotten films, filmmakers, and performers for a contemporary audience.Moviemaking has always been instrumental in shaping culture more broadly, and Black artists and entrepreneurs have been involved from the start despite racism and prejudices that limited their opportunities. Black actors, at times, turned stereotypical roles that did not represent their full humanity into three-dimensional characters, while Black directors who were left out of the mainstream system created their own independent production companies.

Film scholar Michael Boyce Gillespie looks at James Baldwin’s writing on Black film and how it served as a culmination of his long deliberation on race and America.

Sedat Pakay (Turkish, 1945–2016), James Baldwin by His Typewriter, Istanbul, 1966, 1966, gelatin silver print, 10 15/16 × 13 15/16 in. (27.8 × 35.4 cm)

James Baldwin by His Typewriter

What He Witnessed: Blackness, Film Spectatorship, and James Baldwin’s The Devil Finds Work

After Anna is kicked out of her home, she must resort to sex work. Her plans to begin a new life with a suitor are thwarted by her vengeful father.

Drama

Poster from Anna Lucasta

Anna Lucasta

Donald Bogle looks at the complex careers of Hattie McDaniel and other Black actors working in Hollywood in the first half of the twentieth century.

Hattie McDaniel at age, eighteen, ca. 1911. Courtesy Margaret Herrick Library; Hattie and Sam McDaniel Collection

Hattie McDaniel at age, eighteen

Hattie McDaniel: Talent, Drive, Audacity, Agency

Head “around the block” to Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue as the Regeneration Summit opens with an evening block party experience. The entire Academy Museum will come alive with activities inspired by the museum’s exhibition Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971. Check out the schedule below and come celebrate with us!

Around the Block Party

How can we work together to preserve the history and future legacy of Black people’s participation in American cinema? To answer this question, we’re convening some of Black cinema’s brightest stars and those dedicated to protecting its history for a full-day symposium.

Symposium (1)

Saturday Symposium

Are you ready for a FREE museum day? As part of SoCal Museums’ Annual Free for All Day, the Academy Museum will host a Family Fun Day for visitors to participate in the Regeneration Summit for free all day. There will be a variety of engaging activities for visitors of all ages to learn, collaborate, and continue the celebration of our groundbreaking exhibition.

FAMILY-FUN-DAY

Free Family Fun Day

The Nicholas Brothers in a scene from Stormy Weather, 1943, from left, Fayard Nicholas and Harold Nicholas. Photographic print, gelatin silver. Courtesy Margaret Herrick Library, ©Twentieth Century Fox

The Nicholas Brothers from Stormy Weather, 1943

Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971 explores the rich history of Black participation in American cinema from its beginnings to just beyond the civil rights movement.

Regeneration: Black Cinema

Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 is the recipient of the 2018 Sotheby’s Prize. The Sotheby’s Prize was founded to support and encourage museums to break new ground by recognizing curatorial excellence and facilitating an upcoming exhibition that explores overlooked or underrepresented art history. The Sotheby’s Prize was awarded by a jury of museum curators and directors comprising Sir Nicholas Serota, Donna De Salvo, Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019), Connie Butler, Emilie Gordenker, and chaired by Allan Schwartzman.

Regeneration is made possible in part by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Technology solutions generously provided by Christie®.

Lead support provided by Campari® and J. P. Morgan Private Bank.

Generous support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and Octavia Spencer.

Accompanying exhibition catalogue supported in part by a grant from Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Academy Film Archive restorations are funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation.

Academy Museum Digital Engagement Platform sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

1898 - 1971REGENERATION BLACK CINEMA

Featured Content

Theme Index

Upcoming Events

On View