{"product_id":"oscar-micheaux-and-his-circle-africanamerican-filmmaking-and-race-cinema-of-the-silent-era-9780253339942","title":"Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: African-American Filmmaking and Race Cinema of the Silent Era","description":"\u003cp\u003eOscar Micheaux-the most prolific African-American filmmaker to date and a filmmaking giant of the silent period-has finally found his rightful place in film history. Both artist and showman  Micheaux stirred controversy in his time as he confronted issues such as lynching  miscegenation  peonage and white supremacy  passing  and corruption among black clergymen. He emphasized the importance of education and the rights of citizenship (the vote  equal protection under the law) for racial uplift  to advance race progress  to awaken black consciousness  and to correct negative behavior within black communities. These films spoke to black moviegoers in ways that were completely different from Hollywood pictures. In this important new collection  prominent scholars examine Micheauxs surviving silent films  his fellow producers of race films who alternately challenged or emulated his methods  and the cultural activities that surrounded and sustained these achievements. The essays shed new light on the feature filmmaking of Richard Maurice (Detroit)  David Starkman and the Colored Players Film Corporation (Philadelphia)  and Richard Norman (Florida)  as well as the stardom of Evelyn Preer  Lucia Lynn Moses  Paul Robeson  Charles Gilpin  and Lawrence Chenault. Studies of the shorter films shot in 16mm by ethnographer Zora Neale Hurston and religious reformers James and Eloyce Gist (Washington  D.C.) fill out the complex picture of an era. Authors examine Micheauxs films (and novels) from a range of perspectives  including his radical aesthetic strategies  his uses of stereotypes  his powerful critiques of D. W. Griffiths Birth of a Nation and Eugene ONeills race plays  his radical uses of other texts (notably the novels of Charles Chesnutt)  and his work with such genres as the Western. The relationship between black film and both the stage (particularly the Lafayette Players) and the black press  issues of underdevelopment  and a genealogy of Micheaux scholarship  as well as extensive and more accurate filmographies  give a richly textured portrait of this era. The essays will fascinate the general public as well as scholars in the fields of film studies  cultural studies  and African American history. This thoroughly readable collection is a superb reference work lavishly illustrated with rare photographs. Contributors include Pearl Bowser  Jayna Brown  Corey Creekmur  Jane Gaines  Gloria J. Gibson  J. Ronald Green  Arthur Jafa  Phyllis Klotman  Charles Musser  Charlene Regester  Louise Spence  Clyde R. Taylor  Sr. Francesca Thompson  and Michele Wallace.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45276956033077,"sku":"ByrdShop_0253339944","price":241.48,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780253339942.jpg?v=1780567386","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/oscar-micheaux-and-his-circle-africanamerican-filmmaking-and-race-cinema-of-the-silent-era-9780253339942","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}