Within Our Gates (partially found silent film; 1920)
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Chicago advertisement for Within Our Gates.
Status: Partially Found
Within Our Gates, directed by Oscar Micheaux, is the oldest surviving film directed by an African American filmmaker.[1] Released in 1920, the film was extremely controversial with various scenes being cut at different screenings.[2] Shortly after the film's release, it was lost for decades.[2]
The plot features an African American woman who goes North to raise money for a rural school in the Deep South for poor black children. Her romance with a black doctor eventually leads to revelations about her family's past and her own mixed-race, European ancestry. The film portrays racial violence under white supremacy and the lynching of black people. Produced, written, and directed by Micheaux, it is the oldest known surviving film made by an African American director and has been named one of the greatest films of all time by a Black director.[3]
Production
The film was shot in Fort Lee, NJ in the early 20th century. It is often seen as a response to D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation and portrays lynching as something Black people knew but Northern Whites refused to believe. This turns the accusation of "primitivism" back onto White Southern culture.[4]
Response
The film was rejected by the Board of Censors in Chicago when Micheaux submitted the film in December 1919. An article in the Chicago Defender of January 17, 1920, asserted: "This is the picture that required two solid months to get by the Censor Boards."
The film was released in January 1920 and was screened in various cut versions in Chicago. There is evidence of missing scenes and viewers' descriptions that differ from the current version of the film.
Rediscovery
In 1970, a print was found in Spain. However, all but four of the original English intertitles had been replaced with Spanish.[2] In 1992, Within Our Gates was selected by the Library of Congress to be restored and added to the National Film Registry.[5]
Status
Aside from the four surviving English intertitles, Micheaux's original text remains lost. The Library of Congress's restoration of Within Our Gates contains only approximations of what Micheaux originally said.[1]
External Links
- Wikipedia article on Within Our Gates.
- Archive.org video of surviving footage on Within Our Gates.
- IMDb's page on Within Our Gates.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 San Francisco Silent Film Festival
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 American Historical Association
- ↑ https://slate.com/culture/2023/02/best-black-movies-directors-streaming.html
- ↑ Mellencamp, Patricia. A Fine Romance--Five Ages of Film Feminism. 1995, pp. 230-1.
- ↑ Library of Congress