FREE film series
Nine Wednesdays
July 7 to September 1
In solidarity with the Black community—which continues to face pervasive discrimination, bigotry, and violence—the George Eastman Museum spotlights the contributions of Black film artists with this series of nine motion pictures from 1930 to the present.
Black actors have appeared on cinema screens almost since the inception of motion pictures, but in early American cinema, they were usually cast in supporting roles, their characters existing in relation to white society. Yet, Black artists have created motion pictures of great emotion and import all along, both in front of and behind the camera as actors, singers, dancers, writers, and directors. In this special free series, the Dryden Theatre presents some of these works on the big screen. Come and join us in celebrating the long history—from the silent period to today—of the contributions of Black artists to cinema.
Presented in partnership with the PRISM Multicultural Center and Global Education and International Services at Monroe Community College; and the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester.
This series is sponsored by the William & Sheila Konar Foundation.
Events in this Series
The Last Black Man in San Francisco
FREE SCREENING | In Solidarity: Spotlighting Black Film Artists Co-writer Jimmie Fails stars as a version of himself in this debut film from director Joe Talbot. A story of gentrification and the idea of American legacy, this sensitive film deals with the fringes of society and the terrible cost of displacement.
Shaft
FREE SCREENING | In Solidarity: Spotlighting Black Film Artists Already an established photographer, musician, and writer, Gordon Parks turned to filmmaking in the late 1960s. Parks’s photographic eye New York City without adornment while Isaac Hayes’s unforgettable score propels the on-screen action, resulting in Hayes becoming the first Black composer to receive an Academy Award. Who’s the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about? You’re damn right.
This Is the Life
FREE SCREENING | In Solidarity: Spotlighting Black Film Artists The Good Life Health Food Centre is not a name that would immediately inspire thoughts as fertile ground for a musical revolution, but their weekly hip-hop open mic nights are now the stuff of legend. This documentary, Ava DuVernay’s first feature film, is a loving look back at a place and time that can never be duplicated.
The Story of a Three-Day Pass
FREE SCREENING | In Solidarity: Spotlighting Black Film Artists Stationed in France, young American soldier Turner (Harry Baird) is given a promotion and three-day pass, which he decides to spend in Paris. His wanderings lead him to a nightclub, where he meets Miriam (Nicole Berger), a white French shop clerk, and a romance blossoms.
Talk to Me
FREE SCREENING | In Solidarity: Spotlighting Black Film Artists The importance of radio in the 1960s and ’70s is explored in this biographical film about famous Washington, DC, disc jockey Petey Greene (Don Cheadle).