This course explores the rich and diverse history of African American filmmaking. Focusing on films written and/or directed by African Americans, this seminar traces the history of filmmaking from the silent era to the present day. In exploring Black cultural production and creative expression, students consider the ways in which film is used as a medium of protest, resistance, and cultural affirmation. We look at films through the critical lenses of Ethnic Studies theory, race and representation in American cinema while locating our analysis within larger frameworks of Hollywood’s representation of African Americans and various cultural and social movements within local and global contexts.