African-American Studies Collections

Filmography: I

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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I AIN'T LYING.
1976. 20 minutes.
Documentary. American Folklife. Southern Folklife. African-American Folk Tales.

A film made by Bill Ferris that "presents performances of Black folktales in rural Mississippi. Includes a dozen sessions and a performance of a toast."
Notes: Sound by Robert Slattery. Photographed by Dale Lindquist. Edited by Sara Miller. This is a shorter version of a film released in 1975 under the same title


I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS.
1978. 96 minutes. (V1017).
Directed by Fiedler Cook.

A film version of Angelou stirring book of the same title. It to is a fictionalized account of her life. The story of a gifted, imaginative young black girl growing up in the South of the 1930s. With: Paul Benjamin, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, Roger E. Mosley, Madge Sinclair, and Constance Good as Maya.


I REMEMBER HARLEM.
198-. 58 minutes. (Each program). (V1017).

A documentary of the history of Harlem form its settlement through the Civil Rights decades. In four parts:

• Part I The Early Years
• Part II The Depression Years
• Part III Toward Freedom
• Part IV Toward a New Day

I'M GONNA GET YOU SUCKA.
1989. 129 minutes. (V2240).

Keenan Ivory Wayans wrote the screenplay for and acted in Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle. Wayans clearly has an eye and ear for movie satire. He obviously has more than a passing interest in filmmaking since his two films to date are about black movies and blacks working in movies. I'm Gonna Get You Sucka pokes some rather mild fun at the super heroics of the black action film. It uses several of the key actors in the genre -- Jim Brown, Isaac Hayes, Jim Kelly, Antonio Fargas, and Bernie Casey (Where was Pam Grier). Wayans plays the wayward, klutzy hero. Written and directed by Wayans. Box-office gross: $5,345,000.


IDA B. WELLS: A PASSION FOR JUSTICE.
1989. 60 minutes. (V2944).
Wells, Ida B. - Black Women - Reconstruction.

A segment of the PBS series The American Experience. Directed and Produced by William Greaves and Louis Archambault.

"After the Civil War, the lynching of black men, women and children was an all-too-frequent event in the volatile racial climate of the southern United States. On the flimsiest of charges they were shot, burned at the stake or hanged. Ida B. Wells was shocked into action following the lynching of three of her friends. Born into slavery in a small town in Mississippi, Wells had a fiercely independent spirit and struggled against racism and sexism. She became a school teacher and journalist, writing one of the first studies on mob violence entitled The Red Record. Her personal sense of integrity and justice carried her into a lifelong crusade against racism, sexism and other indignities, Wells led an anti-lynching campaign that took her to the capitals of urban America and Europe. Ida B. Wells: A Passion For Justice follows the life of this courageous woman who became a leading national figure and also offers a unique view of the difficult era of Reconstruction."
Notes: Wells' writings are read by Toni Morrison. Historians and journalists interviewed include Paula Giddings, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, David Tucker, Troy Duster (grandson of Wells), and John Demott. Photographed by Jerry Pantzer, Nick Doob and Juliana Wang. Written by William Greaves. Music by Kermit Moore. Narrated by Al Freeman, Jr. Edited by Gary Winter.


ILLUSIONS.
1983. 34 minutes.
African-American Filmmakers. Women Directors. Independent Films. Moving Picture Industry, World War II. Blacks in the Moving Picture Industry. Directed by Julie Dash.

An impressionist study of a smart, ambitious young woman film executive during World War II who, while passing for black, tries to make an impact on the films made by the studio she works for. An army officer stationed as war time liaison starts to pursue her aggressively when he discovers her partially veiled secret. An interesting study of a driven woman's desire to make a difference in the movie industry. Shot in black and white, the film has a very '40s look and style. With: Lonette McKee, Rosanne Katon, Ned Bellamy, Jack Radar, Fernando Lundi Faust, Lisa Phelps, Laddy Ashley, Rita Crafts, Sandy Brooke, Johnny Crear, John McBride, and John Childers. Musical singers and dancers include Gaye Kruser, Oliver Wodall, and Joseph T. McKenna. Photography by Ahmed El Maanouni. Edited by Julie Dash with Charles Burnett.

IMITATION OF LIFE.
1959. 124 minutes. (V2158).
Directed by Douglas Sirk.

The Fannie Hurst novel about the emotional and personal strife of two women (one white and one black) and their daughters, has a strong current of appeal. It was filmed twice in 1937 and 1959. The earlier version stuck closer the characterizations of the book (the women share a successful business) but both make much of the racial identification problems of the black mother's daughter. The 1959 version stars Lana Turner, John Gavin, Dan O'Herlihy, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda, Juanita Moore, Troy Donahue and Mahalia Jackson. It's a tearjerker of major proportions. You'll cry in spite of yourself.
Notes: Produced by Ross Hunter. Oscar nominations for best supporting actress (two -- Kohner and Juanita Moore).


IN A TIME OF VIOLENCE.
150 minutes. In English and in Afrikaans and Zulu with English subtitles.
South African Cinema. Social Drama. Political Melodrama. Directed by Brian Tilley.

"When it was first broadcast in South Africa in July, 1994, the film provoked mass demonstrations, nine deaths and a national debate over the role of the media in the new South Africa. This fast-paced political thriller, starring some of South Africa's best actors and hottest bands, give an exciting dramatic form to the African National Congress' basic program of reconciliation within a non-racialist, democratic society. Set in the tense days of inter-ethnic violence before South Africa's first free elections. Inkatha spokespeople denounced the film as 'defamatory' and warned, 'The lives of the producer and actors are definitely in danger.' After the first of the three episodes aired, the South African Broadcasting Corporation canceled the other two, inciting a furor over media censorship. A week later, it reversed itself and broadcast all three episodes to a record audience, explaining: 'To allow ourselves to be swayed by the views of political parties is to lead us back into the dark ages. We believed that you are expecting us to take a stand for media independence. We are accountable to you, the public, and you alone.'" The film is in three distinct 50 minute segments:

• Episode 1 -- The Line:
  "Bongani and Mpho, are two you ANC 'comrades' and lovers from Soweto. Bongani is the sole witness to a train massacre by Duma, a militant with the Zulu-supported Inkatha Freedom Party. Since Bongani was recognized, the couple is forced to take refuge in his uncle's apartment in Johannesburg. The apartment block's residents represent a cross-section of the new multi-cultural South Africa: A Coloured prostitute, an up-and coming black family, the young Afrikaner caretaker, a disillusioned Mozambican gun-runner, a black gay couple. When the block's new owner, a black real estate speculator, raises the rent, Bongani organizes a rent strike unifying the tenants."
• Episode 2 -- All on Edge:
  "In this second episode, Bongani disagrees with the plan by Mpho and his other ANC 'comrades' to purchase guns for a retaliatory raid against Inkatha supporters. When Duma shows up at the apartment block to buy rifles from Pedro, the Mozambican gun-runner, he recognizes Bongani. Duma finds a cheaper source of weapons - a renegade white South African police officer, Lieutenant Vissers, who is fomenting so-called 'black-on-black' violence. Mpho attempts to buy guns from Pedro but her relationship with Bongani becomes strained. When they part on a busy street, Bongani is kidnapped by an unmarked police car."
• Episode 3 -- Fire with Fire:
  "As this third and final episode begins, Bongani is held secretly by Lieutenant Vissers who threatens to turn him over to Duma, the Inkatha thug, if he doesn't name ANC activists. But Bongani's friends and lawyer have identified the kidnap vehicle as a police car and bring pressure on the police. Vissers' superiors tell him that the old days of unrestrained police terrorism are over and that he must release Bongani. Meanwhile the ANC comrades plot revenge against Duma, but just as they are about to assassinate him, he is arrested by the police or the train massacre. Vissers later has Duma murdered in prison so he can't expose him. Back at the apartment block, the residents celebrate their victory in the rent strike and Duman's arrest. The film ends with a plea for peace by Mzake Mbuli, know in South Africa as the 'people's poet.'" With: Vusi Kunene as Bongani, Grace Mahilaba as Mpho, Ramalao Makhene as Zakes, Ian Roberts as Lt. Visser, Jerry Mofoking as Duma, Philome Meigos as Pedro, Marcel Van Heerden as Fanie, Sello Maake Ka-Ncure as Snowy, Connie Chiume as Rosie, Dolly Rathebe as Gogo, Shadrack Keoropetse as Jabu, Fana Mokoena as Tobogo, Trevie Le Pere as Doreen, Constance Mfuku as Constance, Israel Thadede as Zacharia, and Lillian Dube as Poppie.

Notes: Written by Brian Tilley from a story by Tilley, Mokonenyana Molete and Oliver Schmitz. Produced by Jeremy Nathan. Photographed by Dewald Aukema. Music by Warrick Sony.


IN AND OUT OF AFRICA.
1992. 58 minutes. In French with English subtitles.
African Studies. Trans-national & international trade. Art and Commerce. Wood Craft and Wood Vendors in West Africa.

"This is a story about Gabai Baare, a merchant who brings 'wood' from West Africa to sell in the United States." Baare, one of the makers of the film was a diamond merchant who, when that market began to decline, began to work in wood. 'Wood' is defined as the carvings both as commercial resource and folk artifact. He travels throughout the countrysides of Ghana, Korhogo, and Man and barters for wood to produce the craft work he then sales in major American commercial centers throughout the U.S. Works as simple as wooden gourds and intricately designed and sculpted masks and statuary. The trading has its history from pre-colonial days and dominated often by Muslim traders and merchants."
Notes: A film by Gabai Baare, Ilisa Barbash, Christopher Steiner, and Lucien Taylor. Associate Producer, Christopher Steiner. Edited by Ilisa Barbash. Camera and Sound by Taylor and Barbash. Original Music by Joel Harrison. Among those interviewed: Kaka Masslaki, Novkov Salle, Augustin, Werner Anton Elias, Benard de Grune, Tim Hamill, Kame Geue, Werewere Liking and others.


IN DANKU THE SOUP IS SWEETER.
1992. 30 minutes.
Documentary. Women in Africa. Ghana. Village Life, Ghana. Subtitled Women and Development in Ghana.

"As in many African villages, life in Danku in the north of Ghana has been a struggle for subsistence. The women bear the burden of caring for the children, raising food, and trying to make life better for their families. Through a special project of the Canadian International Development Agency, the women were given access to credit for the first time. This film shows how this little bit of financial aid, allowed the women to become 'entrepreneurs'. We follow two women who take advantage of this program, borrowing a little bit of start-up money. We see how hard they work to pay back their loans. One makes butter form arduously pounding vegetables; the other cooks delicious soup from seasonal crops. They each sell their products form door-to-door and the market near the village. Eventually their efforts make a small profit that affords their families some more comforts."
Notes: Produced by Gary Beitel.


IN SEARCH OF OUR FATHERS.
1992. 55 minutes.
Documentary. African-American families. Fathers and Sons. African-American Filmmakers. Single Mothers. Fathering. Directed by Marco Williams.

"African-American filmmaker Marco Williams was twenty-four years old the first time he learned his father's name. He had been raised in a closely knit family where for generations, strong, husbandless mothers were the norm and fathers promptly disappeared. This film documents Marco's seven-year search for the elusive father he never knew and his coming to terms with the truth of his origins. Ironically, this quest for his father actually brings him closer to his other. It was her resourcefulness that enabled them both to improve their lives. She saw to it that Marco received a first-rate education, and later, that she was able to pursue her own ambitions. This portrait of an African-American family shows that even in a 'fatherless' household, there can be strong family ties that support the younger generation. As Marco peels away the layers of mystery that surround is father's absence, viewers will be riveted by his single-minded determination. This portrayal of a son's search for identity and the affirmation of the family strikes a universal cord."
Notes: City Lore, Sundance, San Francisco, USA and Margaret Mead Film Festivals entry. Williams interviews members of his mother's family to explore the absence of fathers in his mother's family. Williams search takes him to Columbus, Ohio [his mother and father had met while they were attending Ohio State University], Paris [where she went to culinary school]. His birth was a closed secret in the family. He traveled to Springfield, Ohio to meet his father, and in a revealing, complex and strained interview. The search ends with Williams ultimately expressing disappointment with and towards the an he met. Written and produced by Marco Williams. Executive Producers, Frederick Zollo and Nicholas Palelogos. Music composed by Billy Childs. Edited by Lisa Leeman. The interview participants: Marco Williams, George Williams, Jonica Starks, Shelly Starks, Warren Marcus, Mitzie King, Finley Marcus, Sally Marcus, Louise Starks, Winnie Beavis, Ruthann Marcus and James Berry. Camera by Rick Dood and Marco Williams.


IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT.
1967. 109 minutes. (V400).
Crime Melodrama Directed by Norman Jewison.

A smart black detective, from the big city, gets caught up in a murder case in a small southern town. This film, when it was released, was praised by many critics more as social commentary on the nature of bigotry than as a detective story. It was in fact a damned good police/detective story. It's really very enjoyable, not as laden with messages as one might expect. In many ways its not unlike Jewison's film of A Soldier's Story in the late 1980s. With: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Lee Grant, Scott Wilson, Larry Gates, James Patterson, Quentin Dean, William Schallert, and Warren Oates.
Notes: The film was nominated for best picture, actor (Rod Steiger), screenplay adaptation (Stirling Silliphant), sound, and editing -- all of which it won. Jewison was nominated for best director. The very famous, jazzy score, not nominated for an Oscar, was by Quincy Jones.


IN THE LAND OF JIM CROW: GROWING UP SEGREGATED.
1991. 27 minutes. (V3328).
Documentary. Interviews on Jim Crow. Segregation. Racism in the United States.

"It has been a struggle. Actualizing the ideal of a society in which persons of all races and cultures are respected as equally entitled to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' is a persistent theme in United States history. In the period after the Civil War and before Brown v. Board of Education (1954), laws and customs upheld racial segregation. The U.S. Constitution itself permitted this. Discrimination, violence resistance and cultural autonomy were commonplace in the context of this struggle. The experiences of living with de jure segregation in the South and de facto segregation in the North are recalled in first-hand accounts by African Americans and a Caucasian American. They are the Rev. Benjamin Chavis (Director, Commission on Racial Justice, United Church of Christ; formerly one of the 'Wilmington 10'), the Rev. William Sloane Coffin (former Senior Minister of the Riverside Church in New York: peace-human rights activist with SANE/FREEZE), Mr. Richard Cornelius (Supervisor, Buildings & Grounds, C.F. Carr School of Dallas), Attorney Mahala Dickerson(Senior Partner Dickerson and Gibbons, Inc. of Anchorage, Alaska), Attorney Yvonne Haskins (partner , Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll of Philadelphia), Mr. Donald Jones (Librarian, Community college of Philadelphia), and Attorney Carl Singley (senior Partner, Singley and Associates of Philadelphia; former Dean of Temple University Law School, Historian Robin D.G. Kelley (Associate Professor, University of Michigan; author of Hammer and Hoe) provide specific historical facts, context and analysis." Notes:


IN THE NAME OF GOD.
199-. 29 minutes.
Documentary. Female Circumcision. Female Genital Mutilation. Women in Africa. Women in Ethiopia. Directed by Leyla Assaf-Tengroth. "Ethiopian women who refuse to be circumcised are called 'fifthly dog.' There is a mythology that such women 'become thirsty' and smell bad. Even today over 11.5 million women are genitally mutilated by razors, scissors or even more primitive and painful methods. Twenty-five nations in Africa, in parts of Asia, and in Arabic countries maintain this practice and refugees are bringing it to Europe and North America. On the bright side, their are small inroads being made. This film takes us to the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, one of the few places giving medical care to victims of infibulation. Here, recovered patients are even trained to assist doctors in repairing the damages to other women. An increasing number of Ethiopian women have started to protest against these ancient traditions, even giving out information in schools. But change will not happen overnight." Among those interviewed: Mamitu Gashe [Surgeon, the Fistula Hospital], Atenife Asmara [Medicine Woman], Ayalnesh Mekennen [President NCTPE], Steven Arrowsmith [Asst. Director, The Fistula Hospital], Amara Dergene [Member of NCTPE Committee].
Notes: Warning: There are occasional graphic surgical or medical scenes]. Photographed by Bengt Jägerskog. Edited by Kersit Engstrand.


THE INKWELL.
1994. 112 minutes.
Comedy. African-American Youth. Directed by Matty Rich.

Larenz Tate gives a charmingly goofy performance as a 16 year old black youth on a summer vacation at Martha's Vineyard. He goes on the trip unwillingly, as do both of his parents, but it is a chance for the family's strained relationships. This is a coming of age comedy, something like a black version of The Summer of '42. It's almost quaint. The younger actors have Afro hairdos that look like wigs -- did they really look like that in the '70s too? Joe Morton, a very fine, underrated actor, is excellent as the boy's father. With: Suzanne Douglas, Glynn Turman, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Adrienne-Joi Johnson, Morris Chestnut, Jada Pinkett, Duane Martin and Mary Alice.
Notes: Music by Terence Blanchard. Written by Tom Ricostronza and Paris Qualles. Photographed by John L. Demps, Jr.


INTRUDER IN THE DUST.
1949. 87 minutes.
Race Relations Drama. Faulkner, William. Directed by Clarence Brown.

A very fine film of Faulkner's superbly written novel about Lucas Beauchamp, a proud, independent black man in rural Mississippi. Beauchamp's persistence in maintaining his dignity is unbearable among many of the whites in the town he lives in. When he is accused of murder, many see this as an opportunity to make him subservient, to make him a nigger. Clarence Brown, a very fine director, had made many of the films of the MGM's leading ladies (especially Garbo) and he also directed National Velvet and The Yearling. This, however, is probably his finest work. He brings Faulkner to life in ways few other filmmakers have. There are stunning performances in the film the key one of course being that of Juano Hernandez as Lucas. With: David Brian, Claude Jarman, Jr., Porter Hall, Elizabeth Patterson, Charles Kemper, Will Geer.
Notes: Screenplay by Ben Maddow based on the novel by William Faulkner. Photographed by Robert Surtees.


INTERNATIONAL SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM.
198-. 30 Minutes. (V3003).
Documentary -- Bands, Female -- Rhythm and Blues.

An excellent short documentary of this ground-breaking all female band of the late '30s and '40s. The swing band started from a Mississippi school band, expanded and grew to include a talented, multi-racial crew of expert musicians, women who had to fight racial bigotry as well as condescension from male bands. Among those interviewed and Anna Mae Winburn, Tiny Davis, Rosalind "Roz" Cron, Helen Jones Helen Saine, Evelyn McGee, Vie Burnside, all members of the band which also included Pauline Gray. Beginning life as the Mississippi Delta Girl Band, doing dances and mixers they moved to Chicago to get into the big time under the leadership of Jessie Stone. Also interviewed are Al Cobbs, Maurice King and Panama Francis.
Notes: Produced and Directed by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss. Photographed by Schiller.


ISHMAEL REED.
1990. 60 minutes.
Poets. Poetry Readings. African-American Authors. Directed and produced by Lewis Mac Adams and John Dorr.

Reed--novelist, poet, essayist, dramatist and publisher--talks about his life and work in an interview with Lewis Mac Adams and reads from his apocalyptic novel, The Terrible Threes. He also read poems, including "May Day 1989," "November 22, 1988," and "My Dearest Michael." He talks about American writing and America as a multicultural nation; comments on the term "African-American"; discusses the writing process; and remarks on the black man as an "outsider."