Research
https:// Film commons. tudio princeton. S edu/ CHV385 AAS385 - SPRING 2021 hiddenhollywood/ Prof. EA KISS
This course uncovers the roots of racial injustice in Hollywood; the secret, but cardinal role Woodrow Wilson played in the production and distribution of D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation that led directly to the rebirth of the KKK and increased violence against Afro-Americans; and William Monroe Trotter’s fight against the state propaganda film. Wilson’s policy of segregation was adapted by Hollywood as a self-censoring industry regulation of representation. Black people could only appear on screen as subservient and marginal characters, never as equals, partners or leaders. This code, Wilson’s legacy, has become second nature to Hollywood.
02 Fantastic Mr. Trotter: “I am one of the People” 02 Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2010) Milos Forman, Ragtime (1981) Christine A. Lunardini, Standing Firm: William Monroe Trotter’s Meetings With Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1914 Studio: dramatization of the minutes recorded in the White House meeting between Trotter and Wilson
02 Woodrow Wilson Goes to Hollywood 09 D. W. Griffith, The Birth of a Nation Part I. (1915) Henry King, Wilson (1944) Sigmund Freud, “Introduction” in Sigmund Freud and William C. Bullitt, Thomas Woodrow Wilson: Twenty-eighth President of the United States: A Psychological Study Thomas Dixon, Southern Horizons Studio: the ‘Republican’/Democrat’ switch and Wilson’s Southern strategy; Wilson on Freud’s couch; Thomas Dixon museum vitrine
02 Love’s Labor, Slave Labor and the Southern Lost Cause 16 D. W. Griffith, The Birth of a Nation Part I. (1915) Norman C. Amaker, “Quittin’ Time?: The Antidiscrimination Principle of Title VII vs. The Free Market” Joseph R. Wilson, “Mutual Relation of Masters and Slaves as Taught by the Bible” Studio: film essay or film montage on occupational segregation; Norman C. Amakert museum vitrine; Joseph C. Wilson museum vitrine, cinematic blocking Research
https:// Film commons. tudio princeton. S edu/ CHV385 AAS385 - SPRING 2021 hiddenhollywood/ Prof. EA KISS
02 Cut to the Chase: Is D. W. Griffith the Father of Cinema? 23 D. W. Griffith, The Birth of a Nation (1915) Sergei Eisenstein: “Dickens, Griffith and the Cinema Today” Sergei Eisenstein, Battleship Potemkin (1925) W.E. B. Du Bois, “Princess Steel” (1905) Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery (1903) Studio: focus-frame exercise; montage exercise; re-cutting exercise
03 Afrofuturism versus Wagnerian Ethno-Epic 02 James Monroe Trotter, Music and Some Highly Musical People (1878) Thomas Dixon, The Klansman (1905) W. E. B. Du Bois, “Princess Steel” (1905) W. E. B. Du Bois, “The Comet” (1925) Ryan Coogler, Black Panther (2018) Giovanni Pastrone, Cabiria (1914) Richard Wagner, “The Ride of the Valkyries” William Peirce Randel, “The Battle of the Books” in A Century of Infamy Guest: George E. Lewis, composer, Professor of Music, Columbia University Studio: film montage on “The Ride of the Valkyries” in films; film essay on Wagnerism vs Afrofuturism; James Monroe Trotter museum vitrine; George E. Lewis museum vitrine
03 Leading Men and Leading Ladies: Jim Crow Cinema 09 Madame Sul-Te-Wan: The first Afro-American woman on the big screen Victor Fleming and George Cukor’s Gone with the Wind (1939) Michael Curtiz, Casablanca (1944) Julie Dash, Illusions (1982) Julie Dash, Four Women Walter Lippmann: “Stereotypes” in Public Opinion (1920) Studio: Sul-Te-Wan museum vitrine; Julie Dash museum vitrine; film essay and/or film montage on Sul-Te Van and on the origins of various Hollywood stereotypes Research
https:// Film commons. tudio princeton. S edu/ CHV385 AAS385 - SPRING 2021 hiddenhollywood/ Prof. EA KISS
03 Propaganda and State Sanctioned Violence 23 D. W. Griffith, The Birth of a Nation Part II. (1915) Harold Lasswell, “The Theory of Political Propaganda” in: American Political Science Review (1927), Erwin Panofsky, “Style and Medium in the Motion Pictures” (1934) D. W. Griffith, Heart of the World (1918) D. W. Griffith, Broken Blossoms (1919) Lizzie Borden, Born in Flames (1983) Raoul Peck, Lumumba (2000) Studio: film essay and montage on state violence; re- cutting exercise, satirical subversion of The Birth of a Nation, Lizzie Borden museum vitrine
03 “I Can’t Breathe”: Professional Witnessing and Documentary Truth 30 Ava DuVernay, Selma (2014) Gordon Parks: The Tree of Learning (1969) Mario Van Peebles, Panther (1995) Zora Neal Hurston, Ethnographic Film Essays King Vidor, Hallelujah (1929) Ida B. Wells-Barnett, On Lynchings Studio: Zora Neal Hurston (as a filmmaker) museum vitrine; Ida B. Wells-Barnett museum vitrine; Gordon Parks museum vitrine; Ava DuVernay museum vitrine; Mario Van Peebles museum vitrine; film montage and film essay on documenting the “ob-scene” and the “invisible man/woman”
04 The Locke - Du Bois Debate on Propaganda and Art 06 Early Afro-American silent films Melvin Van Peebles, Classified X (1998) Oscar Micheaux, Within Our Gates (1920) Oscar Micheaux, Body and Soul (1925) W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Criteria of Negro Art” (1926) Alain Locke, “Art or Propaganda” (1928) Guest professor to be announced Studio: W.E.B. Du Bois museum vitrine; Alain Locke museum vitrine; Oscar Micheaux museum vitrine Research
https:// Film commons. tudio princeton. S edu/ CHV385 AAS385 - SPRING 2021 hiddenhollywood/ Prof. EA KISS
04 “I Am Not Your Negro” 13 Raoul Peck, I Am Not Your Negro (2017) Nate Parker, The Birth of a Nation (2016) Charles Burnett, Nat Turner, A Troublesome Property (2003) James Baldwin, The Devil Finds Work (1976) Guest filmmaker to be announced Studio: Charles Burnett museum vitrine; Nate Parker museum vitrine; Raoul Peck museum vitrine
04 Afro-Americans on the Frontline 20 Dee Rees, Mudbound (2017) Roberto Rossellini, Paisan (1946) Edward Zwick, Glory (1989) Archival photography and film on Afro-American soldiers George Creel, How We Advertised America (1920) Studio: museum vitrine on Afro-American soldiers; Dee Rees museum vitrine
04 New Cinematic World Order 27 Melvin Van Peebles, Three-Day Pass (1968) Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless (1960) Ousmane Sembène, Black Girl (1966) Studio: Melvin Van Peebles museum vitrine, Ousmane Sembène museum vitrine