Black and White States: Race in American Cinema, 1915-1991
As part of the 3rd edition of Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, we are launching a section that is more than a survey of classics – it is a lesson in history written on film. The history of American cinema is inseparable from the history of racial tension in the United States.
For decades, Hollywood presented reality almost exclusively through a white lens, marginalising Black characters or reducing them to stereotypes. Black and White States: Race in American Cinema, 1915–1991 traces the long journey from films that reinforced prejudice to works created by Black filmmakers and shaped by Black experience seen from within.
From controversial foundations…
The section begins with D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) – the first blockbuster in film history, a work that astonished audiences with its scale and editing, yet at the same time became a vehicle for racist propaganda. As one critic wrote a century after its release: “The worst thing about this film is that it is so good”. It was in opposition to works like this that authentic representation of Black life had to emerge over the decades that followed.
…to the struggle for a voice
For years, Black artists in Hollywood were pushed to the margins, often limited to minor or technical roles. But the determination of filmmakers gradually opened the way for new narratives. This section follows that path: from Sidney Poitier’s breakthrough performances, through the blaxploitation wave of the 1970s, to the emergence of Spike Lee, whose work helped usher in a new era of African American cinema.
The curator of Black and White States: Race in American Cinema, 1915–1991 is Maciej
Jarkowiec.
Films in the section include:
The Birth of a Nation (dir. D.W. Griffith, USA, 1915) – a monumental work which, despite its technical brilliance, became a cornerstone of racist propaganda.
In the Heat of the Night (dir. Norman Jewison, USA, 1967) – winner of five Academy Awards, featuring Sidney Poitier in one of his most iconic roles, as a detective confronting prejudice in the Deep South.
Shaft (dir. Gordon Parks, USA, 1971) – a defining work of blaxploitation cinema, which introduced a proud, fearless Black hero into popular culture.
Mississippi Burning (dir. Alan Parker, USA, 1988) – a dark thriller about the FBI investigation into the murders of civil rights activists in the 1960s.
Do the Right Thing (dir. Spike Lee, USA, 1989) – a masterpiece that lays bare racial tensions and the absence of easy answers over the course of one sweltering day in New York.
Boyz n the Hood (dir. John Singleton, USA, 1991) – a cinematic manifesto of a new generation of African Americans, made with almost no white actors and met with major critical and commercial success.
Program details and tickets:
The festival is co-financed by the City of Warsaw, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the Polish Film Institute.
The festival’s main partners are the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA), the Gutek Film, and the New Horizons Association.
The festival is co-organized by the Documentary and Feature Film Studios (WFDiF) and the Mazovia Institute of Culture.