African-American Studies Collections

Filmography: U

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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UDJU AZUL DI YONTA.
1991. 90 minutes. In Criola with English subtitles.
Drama. African Cinema.

The "story of three people, each of whom is so much involve with their dreams that they miss the real opportunities which life offers. Vicente, a hero of the revolution, now a businessman, is so despondent over the failure of his political ideals that he fails to notice the flirtations of Yonta, the beautiful, young daughters of two former comrades. Yonta represents the younger generation who have grown up since independence and replaces revolutionary rhetoric with an unabashed enthusiasm for Western consumer culture. she, in turn, is oblivious to the attentions of Ze, a poor student from the country, who sends her absurdly romantic poems (actually written for a Swedish girl) praising her improbably blue eyes. The film ends with a moment out of Fellini, full of satire, affection and wonder. While the older generation dreams beside an azure swimming pool, hung over from a lavish wedding reception, the children carry forward the hopes of the future as they dance confidently into the new morning."


UNION MAIDS.
1976. 50 minutes.
Documentary. Domestic Workers, United States. Labor Relations, United States. Women in trade-unions. Working women. Available in 16mm only.

"Presents an adaptation of the book entitle Rank and File by Alice Lynd, about the American labor movement in the 1930's. Relates the personal experiences of three militant women who tried to organize laborer in Chicago in this period." Notes: Directed by James Klein, Julia Reichert, Miles Mogulescu. Photographed by Tony Heriza, Sherry Novick. Edited by Klein and Reichert.


UP SOUTH.
1996. 28 minutes.
Documentary. African-American Migration, United States. United States - Social History. Chicago, Illinois.

An historical presentation using slides and photographs to explore the history of migration among African-Americans from the end of the 19th century through the middle 1920s. Many of the migrants from the middle southern states moved too Chicago, a place believed to be a promised land for jobs and better lives. Individuals who made the move are heard re-telling their own histories of coming "Up South." Among those whose stories are told: Robert Horton [Hattiesburg, Mississippi], Clara Robinson [Hattiesburg, share farmer's daughter]. The film highlights the economic, emotional, and racial issues that drove hundreds of thousands of blacks from the south to Chicago. The debate among black leaders from Washington to DuBois to Ida B. Wells that fueled the controversial movement, a movement that white planters and businessmen wished to prevent in order to retain their cheap labor. A fascinating study of life and work and historical significance of the black migration of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Notes: Directed by Andrea Ades Vasquez, Pennee Bender, and Joshua Brown. Script by Vasquez with James De Jongh. Co-produced and edited by Pennee Bender. Executive Producer and art by Joshua Brown. Music by Olu Dara, Jeff Ciampa, Art Baron and others. Cast [of readers] include Deirdre Henderson, Kent Jackman, Donna Bailey, Ellen Bethea, Robert Colston, Arthur French, Stanley Mathis, Lee Moore, Gail Nelson, Bernard Tarver and Glenn Turner. Historical advisors include Malaika Adero, Spencer Crew, James Grossman, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham and Roy Rosenzweig.


UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT.
1974. 104 minutes. (V1684).
Directed by Sidney Poitier.

Uptown Saturday Night is low-brow family entertainment. Sidney Poitier may have taken on this production as a counter to the black exploitation films so popular at the time. Whatever the case the film was a huge success and spawned two sequels (Let's Do It Again and A Piece of the Action). The story is about how two friends (a factory worker and a cab driver (Poitier and Bill Cosby) go on a night out to a fancy gambling club where they and all the other customers are robbed. The problem is that a winning lottery ticket (belonging to their church) is also among the stolen items. There efforts to find the ticket creates a lot of hilarious situations and characters. The cast is superb -- Richard Pryor, Jimmie Walker, Rosalind Cash, James Earl Jones, Flip Wilson, Lee Chamberlain, Johnny Sequa, Calvin Lockhart, and Lincoln Kirpatrick. Roscoe Lee Brownie (as a scheming congressman) and Harry Belafonte (doing a very funny parody of Marlon Brando's Godfather) steal the show. Written by Richard Wesley.
Notes: Written by Richard Wesley.