Hollywood museum celebrates Black cinema

Until now, the American Academy of Motion Pictures, has failed to accept the importance of African Americans in film. However, a new exhibition focuses on Black people in cinema and covers the beginning of the industry in the 1890s, up until 1971.

One speaker at the opening was film director, Ava DuVernay. She understood that for many, the exhibition contents would be a surprise.

Ava DuVernay: "They illustrate in this exhibit a long hidden fact. Are you ready for the secret? That we, Black folks, have always been present in American film, right from the start. Present not as caricatures and stereotypes, but as creators and producers and innovators and eager audiences."

The exhibition, called "Regeneration", has helped discover some original film clips of Black actors. These clips include actors in key roles, which weren't typical of the time. Historically, Black actors were just given parts such as thieves, fools, cleaners or cooks.

Raúl Guzmán: "Many of the conversations that we have about representation, really were happening at the beginning of cinema. I think many audiences saw the potential of cinema to really change how people and their communities were perceived."

Visitors to the exhibition can watch Hattie McDaniel accepting the Oscar award for her acting in "Gone with the Wind". However, at the ceremony the actor sat apart, in a section for Black people. Earlier, she'd had to miss the film's opening night, as it took place in a "Whites only" cinema.

The exhibition would like to open people's eyes to the place of African Americans in the film industry. And it's likely to greatly encourage Black filmmakers in their work today.

Ava DuVernay: "For the first time, we can now see the grand sweep of Black American filmmaking in cinematic artistry, in all its richness and daring, in all its defiance and exuberance. We should have seen it long before now, but this is the day it begins."

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