“Preserving race films,” a chapter by Jan-Christopher Horak, provides a history of the preservation of race films and quantifies the remaining collections of race films in various institutions around the United States. Horak challenges the conclusions of scholars about the quality of silent and sound films made by Oscar Micheaux based on the fact that only three of his twenty silent films remain thus the author suggests Micheaux’s films should be evaluated in relation to other films produced contemporaneously. The case of Micheaux’s cinematic oeuvre serves to demonstrate that our knowledge of race film is severely limited by our imperfect accessibility to the films themselves.
Horak urges readers to acknowledge the historical marginalization of blacks in mainstream culture and the ways that this imbalance of power has resulted in limited archival holdings of race films. Surveying the holdings of the primary cinema archives–UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Library of Congress, the George Eastman Museum, the Academy Film Archive, and the Museum of Modern Art–the article emphasizes that the majority of archival material about black film culture is in the hands of “mostly white institutions.” Data on survival rate of archival materials, numbers of surviving titles, and holding conditions all serve to create a portrait of the current status of race film preservation. Horak suggests that museum focusing on African-American history should establish archives and film preservation and restoration programs in order to create a cohesive corpus of race films and ensure their accessibility to the public.
That is very interesting to find out that most information that remains about black film culture is in the hands of mostly white institutions. I agree that these archives should be more accessible to the public because I myself would like to learn more about African American film culture but it can be hard to find information at times.
I definitely agree that the lack of physical copies of existing films severely limits what we can understand about early race film, and how we can disseminate that information. I think one of the big issues in our own exhibit will be how we present these other objects (such as our chosen documents, photos, and posters) in a way that translates the meaning and importance of the films to our viewers. Hopefully our exhibit can start this dialogue with a greater audience!