FEATURED PROGRAM In the late 1960s, in the aftermath of the Watts Uprising and against the backdrop of the continuing Civil Rights Movement and the escalating Vietnam War, a group of African and African-American students entered the UCL A School of Theater, Film and Television, many as part of an “Ethno-Communications” initiative designed to be responsive to communities of color (also including AsianAmerican, Chicano and Native American communities). Now referred to as the L.A. Rebellion, these mostly unheralded artists created a unique cinematic landscape, as—over the course of two decades—students arrived, mentored one another and passed the torch to the next group. Some aspects of the story have been told before, in articles and in panel discussions, and at retrospective screenings of key films. Now, UCL A Film & Television Archive has undertaken its L.A. Rebellion initiative to help illuminate previously unknown aspects of the story, the artists and the work, and facilitate a greater understanding of the whole. The Archive’s initiative began with the Archive’s participation in the Getty Foundation funded “Pacific Standard Time” exhibition of post World War II art in Los Angeles. Three years later, dozens of filmmakers have been identified as part of the L.A. Rebellion movement and the initiative has grown into a massive effort by all departments of the Archive to bring to light the contributions of these first generations of Black UCL A film students. Presented in association with UCL A Film & Television Archive and supported in part by grants from the Getty Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The series is curated by Allyson Nadia Field, JanChristopher Horak, Shannon Kelley, and Jacqueline Stewart. Co-sponsored by Philly Weekly, Scribe Video Center, and Temple University, Department of Film and Media Arts.
A Different Image Saturday, January 5 at 2pm Daughters of the Dust / Diary of an African Nun Saturday, January 5 at 5pm Emma Mae Saturday, January 5 at 8pm My Brother’s Wedding / A Little Off Mark Saturday, January 12 at 2pm Bless Their Little Hearts / The Pocketbook Saturday, January 12 at 5pm Compensation / Dark Exodus Saturday, January 12 at 8pm Passing Through / When it Rains
Saturday, January 19 at 2pm As Above, So Below / I & I: An African Allegory / Ujamii Uhuru Schule Community Freedom School / Medea Saturday, January 19 at 5pm Fragrance / Your Children Come Back to You / Shipley Street / Rich Saturday, January 19 at 8pm Bellydancing – A History & An Art / Festival of Mask / Black Art, Black Artists / Four Women / Define Saturday, January 26 at 5pm Brick by Brick / L.A. In My Mind / Child of Resistance / Rain / The Dawn at My Back: Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing Saturday, January 26 at 8pm Bush Mama / Daydream Therapy
Wednesday, January 16 at 7pm A Different Image / Grey Area / Cycles / Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification
Images on left from top to bottom: Shipley Street, Passing Through, Bush Mama, & Bless Their Little Hearts
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