PEARL BOWSER &
THE 1970 BLACK
FILM SERIES...REVISITED
Ten Nights in a Bar Room, 1926
Come! See! Experience! Our exciting immersive installation "Pearl Bowser and the 1970 Black Film Series" at the Jewish Museum has been extended to March 1st!
This multimedia homage –– now in its final weeks –– revisits, reanimates, and reimagines a landmark moment in film history.
In 1970, pioneering author, researcher, and programmer Pearl Bowser presented "The Black Film" retrospective at the Jewish Museum, revealing a buried treasure of overlooked ‘race movies’ created between 1925 and 1965. Introduced during the Civil Rights era, her groundbreaking series challenged the film canon, while transforming the recognition of early Black independent cinema and its filmmakers.
Now, 55 years later, Guest Curator Lisa Collins and her collaborators bring Bowser’s revolutionary program back to life in a vivid sensory-rich installation.
Lyrical vignettes highlighting the 14 films are shown in the original program’s order from 1970, and feature a wide range of work by legendary stage and screen artists including Paul Robeson, Mercedes Gilbert, Melvin Van Peebles, Mario Van Peebles, Ousmane Sembène, and early 1900s film pioneer Oscar Micheaux. This cinematic exploration also features rare footage and a moving interview with 90-year-old Bowser, returning to visit the Museum, 50 years later, while sharing her captivating memories and insights.
A time capsule –– forged in solidarity back then and now –– this bold installation brings to present-day audiences the renewed experience and visibility of a hidden, but essential, film chapter and an enduring legacy that Bowser helped define. A potent tonic for today…
Harlem-born Pearl Bowser (1931–2023) –– a trailblazing film scholar, archivist, curator, filmmaker, educator, and independent distributor –– worked diligently to reshape the preservation and recognition of Black cinema, while expanding the global film canon. An activist, arts advocate, and staunch researcher, she became the foremost scholar of early 1900s Black pioneer filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, as well, a lifelong champion for independent cinema and BIPOC/women filmmakers. In 1970, amid the Civil Rights era, Bowser’s extensive research and dynamic curation gave rise to the groundbreaking film series The Black Film at the Jewish Museum, helping unearth overlooked race films and establish Black independent cinema as a vital field of study and exhibition. She later co-founded African Diaspora Images, a major collection of African and African American films and memorabilia. Her collaborations included working with St. Clair Bourne, Bill Gunn, Melvin Van Peebles, William Greaves, Julie Dash and Charles Burnett, D.A. Pennebaker, to name a few. Bowser's diverse film work and robust programming traveled nationally and internationally, including to MoMA, BAM, the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, Pacific Film Archive, American Jazz Museum, Historically Black Colleges & Universities, Italy, Senegal, and beyond. Bowser's notable directing and producing film credits include Mississippi Triangle (1984), Namibia: Independence Now! (1985) and the acclaimed PBS documentary Midnight Ramble: Oscar Micheaux and the Story of Race Movies (1994). Authoring several acclaimed books and essays, she co-edited the award-winning large-format book, Oscar Micheaux and His Circle (2001). Her extensive archive now serves as a cornerstone of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture’s film collection. Affectionately known as the “Godmother of Black Independent Cinema,” Bowser’s work has transformed film history, preservation and made a lasting impact across multiple disciplines and borders...
Created by the award-winning filmmaking team: Guest Curator Lisa Collins (Director / Producer / Co-Editor) and collaborators Mark Schwartzburt (Producer / ‘Short Doc’ Co-Director), as well as Anthony Jamison (Editor); alongside Co-Curator Aviva Weintraub (for the Jewish Museum). Co-presented by Right On Time Productions. With acknowledgments to additional team partners.
Plan your visit NOW, before this MUST SEE installation closes!
The Right On Time Productions Crew adds: "Don't miss this potent timely installation at the Jewish Museum! A magical travelling time capsule! One, especially meaningful during Black History Month! We're beyond proud and honored to reenergize and spotlight this remarkable landmark (unsung!) legacy, sparked by the visionary Pearl Bowser, herself — our beloved mentor, muse, and collaborator with a global outlook! …Together we build community through solidarity..."
