L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema

9/6/12 to 10/30/12

African American filmmakers associated with the L.A. Rebellion, a group that coalesced at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television from the late 1960s through the 1980s, were the first to forge a sustained alternative black cinema practice in the United States. Our series includes thirty-five works from filmmakers such as Don Amis, Charles Burnett, Larry Clark, Julie Dash, Zeinabu irene Davis, Jamaa Fanaka, Haile Gerima, O.Funmilayo Makarah, and Billy Woodberry.

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  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Upcoming
    Events
  • Selected
    Objects
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Films

  • Daughters of the Dust

    Thursday, September 6 7 pm
    Julie Dash (U.S., 1991) New Print! In 1902, among the Gullah community (descendants of African captives who escaped the slave trade to live on islands off of South Carolina and Georgia), a family debates whether to move to the mainland. The first American feature directed by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release. Preceded by Dash's Diary of an African Nun. (127 mins)
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  • Bush Mama

    Thursday, September 13 7 pm
    Haile Gerima (U.S., 1975) New Print! Introduced by Cornelius Moore. Haile Gerima's first feature "takes chances and projects an urgent sense of personal necessity . . . a raw, fragmented study of a Watts welfare mother's political awakening" (Village Voice). Preceded by Bernard Nicolas' Daydream Therapy. (105 mins)
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  • As Above, So Below and Short Films

    Wednesday, September 19 7 pm
    Larry Clark (U.S., 1973) New Print! Introduced by Leigh Raiford. A rediscovered masterpiece, director Larry Clark's portrayal of black insurgency imagines a post-Watts rebellion state of siege and an organized black underground plotting revolution. Preceded by three visionary films, Ben Caldwell's Medea and I & I: An African Allegory, and Don Amis' Ujamii Uhuru Schule Community Freedom School. (100 mins)
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  • Emma Mae

    Thursday, September 20 7 pm
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  • Your Children Come Back to You and Short Films

    Tuesday, September 25 7 pm
    Alile Sharon Larkin (U.S., 1979) New Print! Larkin's film, about a single mother eking out a living from welfare check to welfare check, masterfully presents a child's perspective on wealth and social inequality. With other shorts that explore family relationships: Rich (S. Torriano Berry), Shipley Street (Jacqueline Frazier), and Fragrance (Gay Abel-Bey). (115 mins)
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  • My Brother's Wedding

    Thursday, September 27 7 pm
    Charles Burnett (U.S., 1983/2007) Director's Cut! A tragicomic portrait of a young man's complex relationship with his family and his Watts community. “A treasure that demands to be unearthed in all its funny-sad tenderness” (Village Voice). Preceded by Robert Wheaton's A Little off Mark. (91 mins)
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  • A Different Image and Short Films

    Tuesday, October 2 7 pm
    Alile Sharon Larkin (U.S., 1982) New Print! Introduced by Leigh Raiford. An African American woman living away from her family in Los Angeles yearns to be recognized for more than her physical attributes. With short films exploring personal and social change: Cycles (Zeinabu irene Davis), Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification (Barbara McCullough), and Grey Area (Monona Wali). (112 mins)
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  • Bless Their Little Hearts

    Thursday, October 11 7 pm
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  • Passing Through

    Thursday, October 18 7 pm
    Larry Clark (U.S., 1977) New Preservation Print! An African American jazz musician, just out of jail, searches for his mentor and grandfather. Clark's film theorizes that jazz is one of the purest expressions of African American culture. With Charles Burnett's When It Rains. (124 mins)
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  • Compensation

    Tuesday, October 23 7 pm
    Zeinabu irene Davis (U.S., 1999). Zeinabu irene Davis in person. Compensation depicts two Chicago love stories, one set at the dawn of the twentieth century and the other in contemporary times, featuring a deaf woman and a hearing man. Incorporates sign language and title cards, making it accessible to both deaf and hearing audiences. Preceded by Iverson White's Dark Exodus. (118 mins)
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  • Black Arts, Black Artists: Short Films

    Sunday, October 28 7 pm
    (U.S., 1971–88). This compilation of shorts celebrates black culture: Four Women (Julie Dash), Black Art, Black Artists (Elyseo J. Taylor), Define (O. Funmilayo Makarah), Bellydancing-A History & An Art (Alicia Dhanifu), and Festival of Mask (Don Amis). (75 mins)
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  • Child of Resistance and Short Films

    Tuesday, October 30 7 pm
    Haile Gerima (U.S., 1972). Inspired by a dream director Haile Gerima had after seeing Angela Davis handcuffed on television, Child of Resistance follows a woman (Barbara O. Jones) who has been imprisoned as a result of her fight for social justice. With shorts Brick by Brick (Shirikiana Aina), L.A. in My Mind (O. Funmilayo Makarah), Rain (Melvonna Ballenger), and the collaborative piece Dawn at My Back: Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing (excerpt). (83 mins)
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