Pioneers of African American Cinema Comes to Gateway Film Center

Gateway Film Center brings a slice of American cinematic history to life this winter. Beginning January 5 and running through March 4, the film center will screen selections from the Kino Lorber collection Pioneers of African American Cinema.

These features and shorts, some dating back to the silent era, showcase filmmakers who were working outside the Hollywood system. The films of the program not only starred Black actors, but were created by Black writers, directors and producers, including Oscar Micheaux and Frank Peregini, with style and vision unthwarted by the studio system.

Charles Musser of Yale University and Jacqueline Najuma Stewart of The University of Chicago curated the complete Pioneers of African American Cinema collection. From this collection, GFC President and Programmer Chris Hamel selected the features and shorts screening in Gateway’s program.

“We became aware of this work at least six years ago and immediately started trying to figure out a way to bring the program to Columbus,” Hamel recalls. He took the idea to Larry James, who, “immediately endorsed the idea, provided funding to help bring it to Columbus, and has been a champion and advocate of it ever since.”

James sees the program as a kind of extension of the work he did as president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for the Performing Arts as well as president of the Lincoln Theatre Association Board.

“It’s consistent with my wife Donna and my DNA,” he says. “It’s about exposing the community to a culture that’s been lost. He or she who writes the history tells their story. And this is about our history written by our people.”

How did Hamel select material from the more than 20 hours in the collection?

“First, we wanted to make sure there was representation of the silent film era. Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates is an incredible piece of filmmaking and it seemed like just the natural film to begin the program with,” he says.

Being a silent film, Within Our Gates needed accompaniment, and James suggested the Columbus Jazz Orchestra.

“I’ve been a supporter of jazz arts forever and I’ve seen what they could do,” James says. “I just thought the history of jazz and the history of Black filmmaking went hand in hand.”

“It only took one phone call,” Hamel says. “They were immediately excited, and we feel pretty honored that they are actually scoring some of this. So, we know those audiences that come are going to have an experience they’ll never forget.”

The program will also include community leaders and film experts to introduce films, and Hamel has planned for opportunities to let audiences discuss and reflect on the work.

“I do think it’s going to be the type of experience where people will want to want to mingle and talk about what they just watched,” he says. “We’ve built in time for receptions before and after to be a space for those types of conversations to occur.”

The film program includes two additional features as well as an abundance of short films.

“We’re pretty excited about the program,” Hamel says. “For the other two features, we really wanted to highlight films that had had less opportunity to be seen by audiences, specifically in a cinema environment. And there’s a wide variety and a lot of diversity in the selected shorts. And one of the most exciting parts of this program is the gallery installation.”

Screens hanging in the film center gallery will continually screen material from the more than 20 hours of restored footage. In addition, art stills and marketing pieces created for these films will hang for view. The exhibit will be on display from January 1 through March 31.

“Even if people can’t make the event screenings, they might be introduced to the content,” Hamel says.

James compares the experience to seeing the Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul for the first time.

“This had that same sort of ring,” he says. “A restoration about something that took place in our community that we were starving to see.”

For more information, visit gatewayfilmcenter.org.

Pioneers of African American Cinema Program

Thursday, January 5, 2023

• 5:30 p.m. – Reception
• 7 p.m. – Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920) presented with Columbus Jazz Orchestra live accompaniment

Friday, January 6, 2023

• 5:30 p.m. – Reception
• 7 p.m. – Selected short films (60-minute program)

Friday, February 3, 2023

• 5:30 p.m. – Reception
• 7 p.m. – The Scar of Shame (Frank Peregini, 1929) and selected short films

Friday, March 4, 2023

• 5:30 p.m. – Reception
• 7 p.m. – Birthright (Oscar Micheaux, 1938) and selected short films