Committed Cinema: Thomas Allen Harris

Thomas Allen Harris (E Minha Cara/That’s My Face, VINTAGE: Families of Value) situates stories of his own family within larger contexts to open possibilities of political action and social change. He visits BAM/PFA to present two of his visually striking and insightful essay films and discuss his new groundbreaking documentary on African American photographers with UC Berkeley professor Leigh Raiford, author of Imprisoned in a Luminous Glare: Photography and the African American Freedom Struggle.

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Past Films

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People
- Wednesday, April 15 7:30 PM
Thomas Allen Harris
2014
Harris’s interest in photography, dates to his grandfather, an amateur photographer, and extends to his newest film, a counter-history of photography in the United States, drawing on the research of Deborah Willis and her groundbreaking book Reflections in Black.
Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela: A Son's Tribute to Unsung Heroes
- Tuesday, April 14 7 PM
Thomas Allen Harris
South Africa, U.S., 2005
Harris chronicles the life of his stepfather, who left South Africa in 1960 with eleven others to gain support abroad for the African National Congress and the anti-apartheid movement. “Something of a miracle” (Time Out).

Committed Cinema: Thomas Allen Harris

Much of Thomas Allen Harris’s film work has involved looking into his personal history, which was shaped by the absence of his father, childhood years spent in Tanzania, his gay identity, and a grandfather interested in photography. While the emotional resonance of his films may reside in his family stories, Harris opens up the possibility of political action and social change by placing them within larger community contexts. His films boldly move from pain to celebration, from the personal to the epic.

Harris’s most recent film, Through a Lens Darkly, constructs a counter history of photography in the United States, one that includes amateurs such as his grandfather, neighborhood studio photographers in black communities, and contemporary black artists. An unknown, fascinating history of the representation of African Americans emerges, refuting the identity created by mass media images. In Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela, Harris uses imaginative re-creations to document his South African father’s life and the early days of the African National Congress. In both films, he draws on a diverse array of imagery and interviews to create visually striking and insightful film essays. As A. O. Scott noted in the New York Times, “he is a wise and passionate guide.”

We are delighted that Harris will present his work at the PFA Theater, where he will be joined by Leigh Raiford in conversation following the screening of Through a Lens Darkly. Raiford is the author of Imprisoned in a Luminous Glare: Photography and the African American Freedom Struggle and coeditor of The Civil Rights Movement in American Memory; she is an associate professor in African American Studies at UC Berkeley.

Kathy Geritz, Film Curator

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Support for Committed Cinema has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Committed Cinema: Thomas Allen Harris

Past Films

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela: A Son's Tribute to Unsung Heroes