Friday, March 22, 2019

Representation Matters, the TCM Film Festival

1939's GONE WITH THE WIND. A colossal hit with moviegoers and the Academy. It took home 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
African-American actress Hattie McDaniel made Hollywood history with her Oscar victory. GONE WITH THE WIND screens in the 2019 TCM Film Festival in Hollywood this April. I took a look at the list of films and I have a few notes on Black History and representations of Black people in some of the festival features such as GONE WITH THE WIND...and 1961's A RAISIN IN THE SUN based on the groundbreaking Broadway play written by Lorraine Hansberry. Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee head the cast.
I'll prepare you for a blackface number in one big Technicolor musical, tell you about one of the top men at 20th Century Fox in the 1970s and remind you why the intellectual, regal, strong and complex Black characters we see in the Oscar-winning 2018 box office blockbuster, BLACK PANTHER, are extremely powerful in our Hollywood history.
Take a few minutes to watch my video and have fun at the festival.

For information on the festival, go here:  www.TCM.com/festival.

2 comments:

  1. Very interesting stuff. Programming festivals needs a lot of voices because, as much as we think we know, an individual's knowledge of film can be very narrow because it is such a personal perspective.

    Thanks for the history lesson. It appears the Boone family rules!

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  2. Caftan Woman, this is late. Forgive my tardiness. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking time to read my post, watch my short video and respond. I agree. The Boone Family -- at least the brother and sister -- deserve reappreciation for their Hollywood contributions.

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