New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


MoMA’s Showcases Earliest Known Feature Film Made with Black Actors

originally published: 09/23/2014
(NEW YORK CITY, NY) -- The Museum of Modern Art announces the discovery of previously unidentified, 101-year-old film footage, the earliest known surviving feature film with a cast of black actors. The unedited daily rushes—multiple "takes" shot each day during production—were found among a trove of 900 negatives from the pioneering Biograph Studio that were acquired by MoMA's founding Film curator, Iris Barry, in 1939, just prior to their scheduled destruction following the closure of Biograph's Bronx facilities.

Though a few other movies from that period featuring black casts, such as William Foster's The Pullman Porter (1913) and Hunter C. Haynes's Uncle Remus' First Visit to New York (1914) are known to have been filmed, all are considered lost. The discovery of the 1913 rushes launched a multiyear research project to identify the production, its actors, and its crew, led by Ron Magliozzi, Associate Curator, and Peter Williamson, Preservation Officer, Department of Film, MoMA. Selections from the film, along with research findings, archival materials, and film stills will go on view October 24, 2014, in the Roy and Niuta Titus Theater Lobby Galleries in the exhibition 100 Years in Post-Production: Resurrecting a Lost Landmark of Black Film History (through March 2015). The world premiere presentation of the assembled rushes will be on November 8, 2014, in MoMA's annual film preservation festival To Save and Project (October 24–November 22, 2014), organized by Joshua Siegel, Curator, and Dave Kehr, Adjunct Curator, with Sophie Cavoulacos, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Film, MoMA.

Starring the legendary Caribbean American musical theater performer and recording artist Bert Williams (1874–1922), the seven reels of untitled and unassembled rushes were filmed at virtually the same time that D. W. Griffith began The Birth of a Nation.

In addition to narrative scenes, the reels reveal candid footage of the black cast and white crew interacting on set, and several frames of Williams mingling with white extras on a suburban street location during a break in filming. The rushes also provide nearly eight minutes of documentary footage of the interracial cast and crew on the New York studio sets and suburban New Jersey locations (in what is believed to be Englewood).



 
Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info




FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY


New Jersey Symphony - Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert

Thursday, April 04, 2024 @ 7:30pm
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC)
100 South Street, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: film

Click here for full description


New Jersey Symphony presents Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Concert

Friday, April 05, 2024 @ 8:00pm
Count Basie Center for the Arts
99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank, NJ 07701
category: film

Click here for full description


An Evening with Richard Dreyfuss and Screening of JAWS

Saturday, May 04, 2024 @ 7:00pm
Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, NJ 07631
category: film

Click here for full description


Click here for more events

Listings are available for $10 and included with our banner ad packages.

Click here for more info.







 

LATEST NEWS


CU Maurice River presents a Double Feature at The Levoy Theatre

(MILLVILLE, NJ) -- CU Maurice River presents a screening of SHATTERED: Portrait of a Glass Factory and Paul J. Stankard: Flower & Flame at The Levoy Theatre on Thursday, April 18, 2024 as part of the CU Social Film Series. Doors are at 5:30pm, showtime is 6:00pm.


Lighthouse International Film Society presents screening of "Call Me Bill" - Documentary Chronicles the Legendary Career of William Shatner




bergenPAC presents An Evening with Richard Dreyfuss and Screening of "Jaws"




The Newton Theatre presents a Screening of "Trolls: Band Together" to Benefit Autism New Jersey


Click here for more event previews







New Jersey Stage

© 2024 by Wine Time Media, LLC
PO Box 811, Belmar, NJ 07719
info@newjerseystage.com

Nobody covers the Arts
throughout the Garden State
like New Jersey Stage!


Images used on this site have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and PR firms. If there is a problem with the rights to any image, please contact us and we will look into the matter.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and on our RSS feed


Art | Comedy | Dance | Film | Music | Theatre | Ad Rates | About Us | Pitch a Story | Links | Radio Shows | Privacy Policy