Black Cinema Treasures : Lost and Found

Library Journal

This is an extremely important addition to the literature on black film from the 1930s through the 1950s, largely because it offers primary documentation on more than a dozen newly discovered films (features and shorts) heretofore considered lost or existing only in fragmentary condition. Although the body of scholarship on black cinema has grown significantly in the last 15 years, research on the films made during the great period of black independent filmmaking (the Teens through the mid-Fifties) was forestalled due to difficulty in procuring the films. The book also contains brief assessments by black film artists on the importance of this historical period. An extensive filmography of black independent films from 1910 to 1957 is also very valuable. This study should rekindle an investigation of this period in black history, and is a necessary acquisition for any collection which addresses cinema.-- Robert Rayher, Sch. of the Art Inst. of Chicago

Booknews

The documentation and description of a hugely important collection of films made by black independent filmmakers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, discovered and restored by Jones (founder/director, Southwest Film/Video Archives). The films were made for black audiences only, featured black actors, and had black directors and screenwriters, and were produced in many cases by blacks. In-depth synopses of the films are accompanied by fascinating photographs from the films. The extremely thoughtful nine-page foreword is by Ossie Davis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)