L.A. Rebellion
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The L.A. Rebellion film movement, sometimes referred to as the "Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers", or the UCLA Rebellion, refers to the new generation of young African and African-American filmmakers who studied at the UCLA Film School in the late-1960s to the late-1980s and have created a
black cinema African American cinema is loosely classified as films made by, for, or about Black Americans. They are an example of Black film. Historically, African American films have been made with African-American casts and marketed to African-American ...
that provides an alternative to classical Hollywood cinema.


Background

In June 1953,
Ike Jones Isaac Lolette Jones (December 23, 1929 – October 5, 2014) was an American film producer and actor. In June 1953, he became the first African American graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and was the first African Ame ...
became the first African American to graduate from the UCLA Film School. In the next 15 years, the numbers of African-American filmmakers remained small. One of those was
Vantile Whitfield Vantile Emmanuel Whitfield (September 8, 1930 – January 9, 2005), was an arts administrator who helped found several performing arts institutions in the United States. Background Vantile Emmanuel Whitfield, also known as Motojicho, was bo ...
, who founded the Performing Arts Society of Los Angeles in 1964 and received a master's degree at UCLA in 1967. By the late 1960s, in the midst of affirmative action, the number of black students steadily increased. Among this new crop of artists were Charles Burnett, an engineering student who had attended Los Angeles City College, and
Haile Gerima Haile Gerima (born March 4, 1946) is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have receive ...
, an Ethiopian filmmaker who had recently moved from Chicago. Unlike their predecessors, they eschewed Hollywood conventions and were influenced by films from Latin America, Italian neorealism, European art films, and the emerging
cinema of Africa Cinema of Africa is both the History of film, history and present of the Filmmaking, making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20t ...
. They were among the first of what became known as the "Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers." In the wake of the Watts Riots and other forms of social unrest, such as a 1969 shoot-out on the UCLA campus involving Ron Karenga's US Organization, Burnett and several other students of color helped push the university to start an ethnographic studies program. Elyseo J. Taylor, who was the only Black instructor at the UCLA Film School in the early 1970s, was an influential instructor in that program. UCLA Us Organization shoot out was actually not a "shoot out" since there was no gun fire exchange. Two armed Us Organization members ambushed and killed two unarmed leading Black Panther Party members; Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter and John Huggins. This scenario is well documented in Ward Churchill's Agents of Repression (1988).
Teshome Gabriel Teshome H. Gabriel (September 24, 1939 – June 14, 2010) was an Ethiopian-born American cinema scholar and professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in Los Angeles. Gabriel was considered an expert on cinema and film of Africa a ...
, a film scholar and historian, began teaching at UCLA in 1974 and became both a colleague and mentor to many filmmakers associated with the movement.


Identification of movement

Film scholar
Clyde Taylor Clyde R. Taylor (born 1931) is an American writer and film scholar, who is an emeritus professor at New York University. His scholarship and commentary often focuses on black film. Career Taylor is a contributor to journals such as '' Black Film R ...
coined the term "L.A. Rebellion" to describe the filmmakers. In the spring of 1997, Doc Films, a student-run film society based at the University of Chicago, hosted one of the first retrospectives of L.A. Rebellion films.
Jacqueline Stewart Jacqueline Najuma Stewart is a University of Chicago professor of cinema studies and director of the nonprofit arts organization, Black Cinema House. She has written about the history of African Americans in filmmaking in ''Migrating to the Movies: ...
, an associate professor at the university, helped coordinate the program. This series included works by Charles Burnett,
Haile Gerima Haile Gerima (born March 4, 1946) is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have receive ...
and Julie Dash. In Fall 2011, UCLA Film and Television Archive programmed a major retrospective of these films entitled, "L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema." The series was funded by the Getty Foundation as a part of ''Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980''. Preceding the program, the UCLA curatorial team conducted oral histories, identifying nearly fifty filmmakers, many of whom had remained invisible for decades. Papers and films by the filmmakers were collected and numerous films were preserved before screening. A catalog was also published, "L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema (Los Angeles, 2011), which accompanied the touring program through more than fifteen cities in North America and Europe.


List of important figures of the L.A. Rebellion movement


Filmmakers

Many of the filmmakers listed below, while primarily known as writer/directors, worked in multiple capacities on various film productions through their early careers. * Gay Abel-Bey *
Anita W. Addison Anita Laraine Wharton Addison (September 6, 1952 – January 24, 2004) was an American television and film director and producer. She was one of the first African American women to be a senior producer for a major television network. Biography ...
*
Shirikiana Aina Shirikiana Aina (born September 9, 1955) is an American film director, cinematographer, producer, and writer. Shirikiana was born in Detroit, MI. She is a member of the LA Film Rebellion. She founded Mypheduh Films, Inc., a distribution company ...
* Don Amis * Melvonna Ballenger *
S. Torriano Berry Steven Torriano Berry is an American film producer, writer and director. He directed ''Noh Matta Wat!'', the first Belizean dramatic television series, which first aired on November 28, 2005. Background and career A native of Kansas City ...
*
Carroll Parrott Blue Carroll Parrott Blue (August 23, 1943 – December 11, 2019) was an American filmmaker, director and author. Based in Houston, Texas, she was part of the L.A. Rebellion film movement. She was noted for her documentary film and interactive ...
* Storme' Bright (Sweet) * Charles Burnett * Ben Caldwell *
Larry Clark Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film ''Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses prim ...
* Julie Dash * Zeinabu irene Davis * Pierre Desir * Alicia Dhanifu * Omah Diegu (Ijeoma Iloputaife) *
Jamaa Fanaka Jamaa Fanaka (born Walter Gordon; September 6, 1942 – April 1, 2012) was an American filmmaker. He is best known for his 1979 film, ''Penitentiary'', and was one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion film movement. Early life and ...
* Jacqueline Frazier *
Haile Gerima Haile Gerima (born March 4, 1946) is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a leading member of the L.A. Rebellion film movement, also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers. His films have receive ...
*
Alile Sharon Larkin Alile Sharon Larkin (born May 6, 1953) is an American film producer, writer and director. She is associated with the L.A. Rebellion (also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers), which is said to have "collectively imagined and cre ...
*
Barbara McCullough Barbara McCullough (born 1945) is a director, production manager and visual effects artist whose directorial works are associated with the Los Angeles School of Black independent filmmaking. She is best known for ''Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite ...
* Bernard Nicolas * O.Funmilayo Makarah * Thomas Penick * Imelda Sheen (Mildred Richard) * Monona Wali * Grayling Williams * Robert Wheaton * Iverson White *
Billy Woodberry Billy Woodberry is one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion (also known as the Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers). He is best known for directing the 1984 feature film, '' Bless Their Little Hearts'' (1984), which was honored at ...


Actors

The following actors appeared in various L.A. Rebellion films and are to some degree associated with the movement: * Adisa Anderson *
Haskell V. Anderson III Haskell Vaughn Anderson III (born 26 November 1943) is an American film, television and theater actor. He is most known for his role in the 1989 martial arts film ''Kickboxer''. He starred in the 1976 film ''Brotherhood of Death'' and appeared ...
* Barbara-O * Charles David Brooks III * Angela Burnett * Nate Hardman *
Kaycee Moore Kaycee Moore ( née Collier; February 24, 1944 – August 13, 2021) was an American actress. Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, she was a member of the L.A. Rebellion, an alternative artistic movement developed at UCLA by Black filmmakers i ...
* Sy Richardson * Henry G. Sanders


Others

The following have supported the work of L.A. Rebellion filmmakers as mentors and/or scholars: * Clyde Taylor, film critic, coined the phrase "L.A. Rebellion" to describe this movement * Elyseo J. Taylor, filmmaker and instructor at UCLA *
Vantile Whitfield Vantile Emmanuel Whitfield (September 8, 1930 – January 9, 2005), was an arts administrator who helped found several performing arts institutions in the United States. Background Vantile Emmanuel Whitfield, also known as Motojicho, was bo ...
, an early African-American UCLA Film School graduate and founder of the Performing Arts Society of Los Angeles (PASLA) *
Teshome Gabriel Teshome H. Gabriel (September 24, 1939 – June 14, 2010) was an Ethiopian-born American cinema scholar and professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in Los Angeles. Gabriel was considered an expert on cinema and film of Africa a ...
, film scholar and Professor at UCLA * Ntongela Masilela, film scholar * Jacqueline Najuma Stewart, film scholar and Associate Professor at Northwestern University * Allyson Nadia Field, Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies and African American Studies at UCLA * Jan-Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive


List of notable L.A. Rebellion films

The following is a chronological list of
short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...
and feature-length films from the L.A. Rebellion filmmakers that are generally considered to be seminal or notable. * ''Several Friends'' (1969) * ''Single Parent Family: Images in Black'' (1976) * ''
Emma Mae ''Black Sister's Revenge'' is a 1976 Blaxploitation film written and directed by Jamaa Fanaka. The film stars Jerri Hayes, Ernest Williams III, and Charles David Brooks, III. The film was released theatrically as ''Emma Mae'', then re-titled to ...
'' (1976) * '' Harvest: 3,000 Years'' (1976) * '' Passing Through'' (1977) * ''
Killer of Sheep ''Killer of Sheep'' is a 1978 American drama film edited, filmed, written, produced, and directed by Charles Burnett. Shot primarily in 1972 and 1973, it was originally submitted by Burnett to the UCLA School of Film in 1977 as his Master of Fi ...
'' (1978)Notebook Sountrack Mix #11: L.A. Rebellion —— The Unity, Resistance & Love Mixtape on MUBI
/ref> * ''
Bush Mama ''Bush Mama'' is an American film made by Ethiopian-American director Haile Gerima, part of the L.A. Rebellion movement of political and experimental black cinema in the 1970s. It was released in 1979 though made earlier, in 1975. In 2022, it was ...
'' (1979) * '' Penitentiary'' (1979) * ''Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification'' (1979) *''Your Children Come Back to You'' (1979) *'' Ashes and Embers'' (1982) * ''
A Different Image A Different Image is a 1982 film directed, written, and edited by Alile Sharon Larkin that explores body image and societal beauty standards through the eyes of a young Black woman on a journey towards self-worth. Summary Alana (Margot Saxton-Fed ...
'' (1982) * '' Illusions'' (1982) * ''
Bless Their Little Hearts ''Bless Their Little Hearts'' is a 1984 American drama film produced and directed by Billy Woodberry and starring Nate Hardman. It was shot and written by Charles Burnett. The film had a limited theatrical release: it played for a week at the R ...
'' (1984) *''Cycles'' (1989) *'' To Sleep with Anger'' (1990) * '' Daughters of the Dust'' (1991) * '' Sankofa'' (1993) * ''
The Glass Shield ''The Glass Shield'' is a 1994 American crime drama film co-written and directed by Charles Burnett. It stars Michael Boatman and Lori Petty as rookie Deputy Sheriff's who uncover a conspiracy around the arrest of a suspect (Ice Cube). After a fe ...
'' (1994) * ''
Adwa Adwa ( ti, ዓድዋ; amh, ዐድዋ; also spelled Aduwa) is a town and separate woreda in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. It is best known as the community closest to the site of the 1896 Battle of Adwa, in which Ethiopian soldiers defeated Italian ...
'' (1999) * '' Compensation'' (2000)


Influence and legacy

A documentary, ''Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA,'' features interviews with many filmmakers associated with the movement. Directed by Zeinabu irene Davis, it was screened as a work-in-progress on Saturday, October 8, 2011 as part of "L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema." L.A. Rebellion films that have been voted onto the National Film Registry: ''
Killer of Sheep ''Killer of Sheep'' is a 1978 American drama film edited, filmed, written, produced, and directed by Charles Burnett. Shot primarily in 1972 and 1973, it was originally submitted by Burnett to the UCLA School of Film in 1977 as his Master of Fi ...
'' (1990), '' Daughters of the Dust'' (2004), ''
Bless Their Little Hearts ''Bless Their Little Hearts'' is a 1984 American drama film produced and directed by Billy Woodberry and starring Nate Hardman. It was shot and written by Charles Burnett. The film had a limited theatrical release: it played for a week at the R ...
'' (2013) and '' To Sleep with Anger'' (2017).


See also

*
African cinema Cinema of Africa is both the history and present of the making or screening of films on the African continent, and also refers to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels w ...
*
Blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...
*
Cuban cinema Cinema arrived in Cuba at the beginning of the 20th century. Before the Cuban Revolution of 1959, about 80 full-length films were produced in Cuba. Most of these films were melodramas. Following the revolution, Cuba entered what is considered the ...
* Cult classic * European art cinema *
French New Wave French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...
* Italian neorealism *
Latin American cinema Latin American cinema refers collectively to the film output and film industry, film industries of Latin America. Latin American film is both rich and diverse, but the main centers of production have been Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Latin Americ ...
* New Hollywood


References


External links


Trailer of ''Spirits of Rebellion'' on YouTube

L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema

''Spirits of Rebellion'' official website


Further reading

* Field, Allyson Nadia; Horak, Jan-Christopher; Stewart, Jacqueline Najuma, eds. (2015). ''L.A. Rebellion:'' Creating a New Black Cinema. Oakland, California: University of California Press. {{Film genres 1970s in film 1980s in film 1990s in film American cinema by ethnicity
Film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
African-American cinema African-American film directors American film directors Movements in cinema 1970s in American cinema 1980s in American cinema 1990s in American cinema