Celebrating Black Cinema for Black History Month

For Black History Month, the Eugene McDermott Library has a display of African American movies from different eras. The display is similar to one, Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971, which was at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. It explored the history of Black participation in United States cinema.

The library’s display includes loanable DVDs in the library’s collection and those from its streaming services such as Kanopy, Naxos Video, and Ambrose Videos Online. A highlight of the display is a link to the less than one-minute short film, Something Good: Negro Kiss, recently discovered and written about by a film historian at the University of Southern California. The short film, created in 1898, shows what is thought to be the first African American kiss captured on film. It has been added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. See more and view the film at kcet.org. The link in the display includes a QR Code to view the film.