African American Film and the Frontiers of Storytelling
Over the past fifty years there have been great strides made in African American cinema. The key transformation has been the change from films made by White producers and directors for Black audiences or featuring African American actors in prominent roles to films produced and directed by African Americans. In the 1960s Melvin Van Peebles flipped the script and almost singlehandedly created the Blaxploitation genre of films with superheroes like “Super Fly” and comical farces like “Watermelon Man”. Photographer Gordon Parks followed with the subtle but in-depth look at Black family in the South with his film, “Sounder”. But in the 1980s there was a “renaissance” in Black filmmaking that began with Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” and “Do the Right Thing” along with John Singleton’s “Boys In Da Hood”. These pioneers of modern Black cinema have been followed in the twenty-first century by producers and directors like Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) and Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther“) who have found ways to infuse African American history and Black identity into their films in new ways. Write short answers, [3-5 sentences] for each of the questions below. Each answer is worth 25 points toward a maximum score of 125 points. A well-written short answer should identify significant themes addressed in each lesson.
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