by Saravanan Mani The films I list here are tentative, incomplete attempts or “essays” that reflect on a theme while initiating conversations with narrative cinema. These films are fictional and non-fictional explorations that start in specific narrative premises but venture beyond those beginnings to interrogate the film-making process through the making of film. While such … Continue reading
by Brian Bergen-Aurand A Century of Black Cinema On this day in Black History Month, I want to introduce a ninety-minute documentary from the 1990s that aims a provide an overview of one hundred years of black cinema. The documentary is wholly centered on Hollywood and the denial or access black talent has had in … Continue reading
by Brian Bergen-Aurand While my wife and I were living in Singapore, we adopted two children from Ethiopia. When we brought them home, I searched for lists of children’s films with strong black characters, especially strong black female characters. One film atop many such lists is Disney’s 2009 The Princess and the Frog (written and … Continue reading
by Brian Bergen-Aurand Thinking over my earliest experiences with black film, reminded me of the 1963 film Lilies of the Field, directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Sidney Poitier and Lilia Skala. The story is a simple one: a traveling laborer stops for water at an Arizona convent and becomes the answer to the German … Continue reading
by Brian Bergen-Aurand “Always do the right thing.” ~Da Mayor For Black History Month 2017, I am writing on a black film each day. The expressions will be personal and critical. The scope will be limited to what I have seen and remember seeing. I will not be going into great detail about each film, … Continue reading
by Brian Bergen-Aurand Thus, censorship emerges as a dynamic activity. Taking my cues from Foucault and Kuhn, I seek to show that power is a relation and not a possession by placing censorship in dialogue with film production and reception. ~Monika Mehta From the start, Monika Mehta’s Censorship and Sexuality in Bombay Cinema (University of … Continue reading
by Brian Bergen-Aurand Essay noun: essay; plural noun: essays ˈɛseɪ/ 1. a short piece of writing on a particular subject. 2. formal an attempt or effort. verb (formal) : essay; 3rd person present: essays; past tense: essayed; past participle: essayed; gerund or present participle: essaying ɛˈseɪ/ 1. attempt or try. Essay Films are notoriously difficult … Continue reading
Foreign Influence 