There are many ways to celebrate Black History Month. Here’s one involving classic, little-known stories that depict life in the United States from the Silent Era through the 1940s.
The Museum of the Moving Image presents Pioneers of African American Cinema from Saturday, Feb. 1, to Sunday, Feb. 23.
The program includes four selections from Kino Lorber’s Pioneers of African American Cinema collection, which contains digitally restored versions of films from the early 20th century. They were categorized as “race films” or “race movies,” a genre that was financed, produced, created, and distributed by Black Americans during a time when segregation was the norm. They featured Black casts and screened in front of Black audiences.
The schedule follows.
Feb. 1 at 1:30 pm and Feb. 2 at 1:30 pm
Within Our Gates
In this silent film, Evelyn Preer plays a young woman who moves north during the Great Migration in the hopes of opening a school for Black children. Director Oscar Micheaux, who was born to former slaves in Illinois, 1920, 73 minutes.
Feb. 8 at 12:30 pm and Feb. 9 at 12:30 pm
Symbol of the Unconquered
In this silent film, Eve Mason (Iris Hall) inherits her grandfather’s homestead. With help from her homesteader neighbor Hugh (Walker Thompson), she battles a gang of racist white criminals who want the land for the oil beneath it. Director Oscar Micheaux, 1920, 59 minutes.
Feb. 8 at 2 pm and Feb. 15 at 12:30 pm
The Flying Ace
Produced at Norman’s Film Manufacturing Company in Jacksonville, Florida, this silent melodrama follows Billy Stokes, a Black fighter pilot who triumphantly returns home from World War I and becomes a railroad detective. He has to perform feats of derring-do to solve the mystery of a missing payroll agent. Editor’s note: Part of this movie’s power derives from the fact that African Americans were barred from serving as pilots in the U.S. Armed Forces until 1940. Plus, Stokes is played by Laurence Criner, a respected veteran of the prestigious, Harlem-based Lafayette Players theater troupe. Director Richard E. Norman, 1926, 65 minutes.
Feb. 22 at 12:30 pm and Feb. 23 at 12:30 pm
Eleven P.M.
Richard Maurice, who created his independently financed silent films in Detroit, directs and stars in this one. He plays a down-on-his-luck street violinist who protects an orphaned child from hoodlums and criminals. The plot changes drastically, jumping to the surreal and culminating in a dreamlike vision of revenge. Director Richard Maurice, 1928, 60 minutes.
General admission is $17.50, but $12 for seniors and students and $10 for youth (ages 3–17). Online purchases incur a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket.
Founded in 1977, Kino Lorber is an NYC-based film distribution company that specializes in classics, documentaries, world cinema, and art house productions.
Museum of the Moving Image is located at 36-01 35th Ave. in Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District.
Images: Norman Studios