Rare at the Blair

A A A Comments By Susan Froyd Thursday, Nov 18 2010

The Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library’s Seldom Screened Cinema film series is exactly what it sounds like.

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“We wanted to feature films people hadn’t seen before or for a long time, films that aren’t shown on TV all the time” says the library’s Erin Lally of this fall’s ongoing screenings on the theme of “Black Directors,” which begin tonight at 6 p.m. and continue Mondays through mid-December. Each film will be introduced by a library employee or local figure; popcorn and drinks are included.

The series kicks off with Within Our Gates, a 1920 silent film that’s considered the oldest surviving film by an African-American director. Oscar Micheaux’s race film is about a black American woman who goes north to raise money for a school for poor children in the deep South; along the way, Micheaux examines Jim Crow policies, lynchings and other injustices, as well as the Great Migration, of which the heroine is a part. In future weeks, the program will bounce back and forth in time, featuring films by Spike Lee, Charles Burnett, Gordon Parks, Julie Dash and other notables; admission is free, and most films are family-friendly.

For a complete schedule and other information go to www.aarl.denverlibrary.org. The library is at 2401 Welton Street.
Mon., Oct. 4, 6 p.m.; Mon., Oct. 11, 6 p.m.; Nov. 8-Dec. 13, 6 p.m., 2010

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