
Reel Freedom
Black Film Culture in Early Twentieth-Century New York City
Alyssa Lopez(Author)
Temple University Press,U.S.
Published on 4. April 2025
Book
Hardback
250 pages
978-1-4399-2412-9 (ISBN)
Description
Reel Freedom intimately captures the relationship between Black film culture and space in New York City. Alyssa Lopez argues that Black film culture, from its origins in the early twentieth century to its firm establishment in the 1930s, was necessarily both entertainment and resistance, connected as it was to Black New Yorkers' demands for access and equality in the city.
Lopez investigates how ordinary people, labor activists, journalists, filmmakers, theater managers, and owners all shaped Black film culture. Black girls and women used moviegoing as a means of independence and control over their lives. Race filmmaker Oscar Micheaux fought with New York State's censorship board to get his films screened with limited edits in local theaters. And Harlem's Black projectionists battled for unionization and fair pay, while journalists linked cinema to Black New Yorkers' lived experiences.
In Reel Freedom, Lopez chronicles the wide-ranging and remarkable pervasiveness of Black film culture in New York City, redefining a period and place most associated with the Harlem Renaissance. In doing so, she illustrates how Black New Yorkers leveraged cinema to make the city their own and to enjoy urban living to its fullest.
In the series Urban Life, Landscape, and Policy
Lopez investigates how ordinary people, labor activists, journalists, filmmakers, theater managers, and owners all shaped Black film culture. Black girls and women used moviegoing as a means of independence and control over their lives. Race filmmaker Oscar Micheaux fought with New York State's censorship board to get his films screened with limited edits in local theaters. And Harlem's Black projectionists battled for unionization and fair pay, while journalists linked cinema to Black New Yorkers' lived experiences.
In Reel Freedom, Lopez chronicles the wide-ranging and remarkable pervasiveness of Black film culture in New York City, redefining a period and place most associated with the Harlem Renaissance. In doing so, she illustrates how Black New Yorkers leveraged cinema to make the city their own and to enjoy urban living to its fullest.
In the series Urban Life, Landscape, and Policy
Reviews / Votes
"In this well-written work, Lopez 'traces Black film culture in New York City from its origins in the early twentieth century to its firm establishment in the 1930s'.... A fascinating tribute to Black New Yorkers and the quest for representation in film."-Kirkus ReviewsMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Philadelphia PA
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
21
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
435 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4399-2412-9 (9781439924129)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Alyssa Lopez is Assistant Professor of History at Providence College.