The secret Hollywood didn't want you to know existed — until Ossie Davis spilled.
Ossie Davis narrates a history of "race films," films made before 1950 which catered to a primarily black audience.
Direction
York weaves rare footage into urgent, accessible history.
Writing
Davis's narration is poetry — scholarly but never dry.
Production
Preservation miracle: footage that nearly vanished forever.
Director
Steven York
Ossie Davis
Narrator
Lorenzo Tucker
Self (archive sound)
Fredi Washington
Self (archive sound)
Josephine Baker
Self (archive footage)
Leslie Banks
Self (archive footage)
Clarence Brooks
Self (archive footage)
Cab Calloway
Self (archive footage)
Walter Connolly
Self (archive footage)
Miriam Cooper
Self (archive footage)
Dudley Digges
Self (archive footage)
Duke Ellington
Self (archive footage)
Marcus Garvey
Self (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Micheaux Film Corporation alone produced over 40 films; only fragments survive today.
This documentary itself became 'lost' for decades — unavailable until a 2016 restoration.
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