Film
Social Work/Social Issues
- 7PM
Rare footage shot by Zora Neale Hurston, the first Chinese-American film, and a taboo-shattering look at abortion and birth control are showcased in this program exploring how pioneering women filmmakers dealt with issues of race, gender, and the social conditions of the early 1900s.
New 2K DCP courtesy Kino Lorber
Dir. Zora Neale Hurston
1929, 10min
The singular writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston captured this rare documentary look at early-20th-century black Southern life, which features footage of Cudjo Lewis, the last known survivor of the Atlantic slave trade.
Recorded music by Renée Clark Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project
Dir. Marion E. Wong
With Violet Wong, Harvey Soohoo, Marion E. Wong
1916, 36min, DCP
Produced and directed by one-time filmmaker Marion E. Wong, the very first Chinese-American feature—of which two tantalizing reels survive’deals with assimilation via the story of an ancient curse that strikes a Chinese-American family as its members become increasingly westernized.
Recorded music by Chris Tsambis
Dir. Lita Lawrence
With Nance Newman, J. Thomas Hopkins, George E. Patten
1925, 60min, DCP
Recently rediscovered and restored, the only known film from Lita Lawrence—an artist about whom little is known—is a daring look at abortion and birth control.
Recorded music by Meg Morley
Go to the movies just once a month and a BAM membership pays for itself.
The first western made by a woman screens with an action-adventure short.
The ebullient director-comedian in films co-starring Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle
Dynamic writer-producer-director Nell Shipman stars in this rugged Arctic adventure saga.