The Oscars Museum sheds light on films unknown in the history of cinema in which blacks played a prominent role

LOS ANGELES - (AFP) - Generations of black directors shaped American cinema long before Denzel Washington or Spike Lee emerged. Oscars Los Angeles.

The exhibition "Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971" sheds light on important moments in the little-known history of black American cinema, especially the hundreds of independent feature films that were made until the sixties of the twentieth century with the participation of black American actors.

These works were called "racial films" and were aimed at an audience of African Americans in an era when racial segregation was still in force in movie theaters.

The exhibition, which features works largely ignored by major Hollywood studios and audiences of the era, begins with a recently rediscovered 1898 film reel showing two black vaudeville actors embracing.

Director Ava DuVernay said at a press conference, "Are you ready to hear this secret? That we blacks have always been present in American cinema from the beginning."

"We were present, not as caricatures or stereotypes, but as directors, producers, pioneers and enthusiastic viewers (...) and we should have shown that much earlier today," she added.

"Regeneration" is the second major temporary exhibition put on by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Academy Awards, which has come under fire in recent years for its lack of diversity.

Among the exhibits are the Oscar statuette won by Sidney Poitier in the category of Best Actor in 1964 for “Lilies of the Field”, and at that time he was the first African-American to win the prestigious cinematic award, and the tap shoes that were used by the dancing duo of the Ticholas Brothers, or even the costume worn by Sami Davis Jr. in "Porgy and Bess".

"I was surprised because I wasn't aware of the existence of these feature films before I started preparing" the 2016 retrospective and exploration of the Academy's archives, curator Doris Berger told AFP.

And she added, "I asked myself: + Why do we not know anything about this subject? We must know about it!" + She said it was "a really engaging film and it shows that African-American artists were taking on all kinds of roles and there were a lot of different stories."

Audiences can now view carefully restored scenes from works such as the Western musical "Harlem on the Prairie," the horror-comedy "Mr. Washington Goes to Town," the gangster feature film "Dark Manhattan" and more.

But many other "ethnic films" from which only their promotional posters remain are lost forever.
Doris Berger noted that this type of independent film used to assign actors the roles of "lawyers, doctors, nurses, and cowboys," while Hollywood only gave them supporting roles in which, for example, they were servants or nannies for rich white American families.

She saw this as "proof (that Hollywood) could have been more diverse".

The last section of the exhibition focuses on the rise of what is known as "blackplotation", a genre that emerged in the seventies and put African-American actors at the forefront, launched by black director Melvin Van Peebles, who died a few months before the exhibition, just like Sidney Poitier.

The exhibition is part of the Academy's efforts to counter criticism of its lack of diversity, embodied in the "Oscars Are Very White" campaign, which sparked in 2015 the poor presence of blacks in Oscar nominations.

In the wake of this trait, the Academy doubled the number of women and members of ethnic minorities in its ranks.

The benefits of "Regeneration" are not limited to educating the public and enabling them to view "ethnic films", but the exhibition's revelations also surprise some contemporary black directors.

Director Charles Burnett commented, "If I had known - about actresses and all that - I would have a completely different vision and approach to cinema."

Anne Duvernay stressed that this exhibition “should have taken place, and it was only delayed.” It is an important and necessary work.” “It shines a light on the generations of black artists we are following,” she added.