Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971

Edited with text by Doris Berger, Rhea L. Combs. Foreword by Whoopi Goldberg. Text by Donald Bogle, Cara Caddoo, Terri Simone Francis, Michael Boyce Gillespie, J. Raúl Guzmán, Shola Lynch, Ron Magliozzi, Ellen C. Scott, Jacqueline N. Stewart.

From the dawn of the medium onward, Black filmmakers have helped define American cinema. Black performers, producers and directors: Bert Williams, Oscar Micheaux, Herb Jeffries, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Ruby Dee and William Greaves, to name just a few, had a vast and resounding impact.

Regeneration accompanies a first-of-its-kind exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures exploring seven decades of Black participation in American cinema. Amplifying this underrepresented history in colorful and striking detail, the book features an in-depth curatorial essay and scholarly case-study texts on topics such as early Black independent filmmaking, Black spectatorship during the Jim Crow era and home movies as an essential form of Black self-representation.

An extensive filmography and chronology offer an essential resource for anyone interested in Black cinema, while images of contemporary visual artworks further illustrate the volume throughout.

Hardcover / 9 x 12 in. / 288 pgs / 80 color / 182 bw