LA Rebellion Films

The L.A Rebellion film movement alludes to the new generation of students of African descent who were enrolled at the UCLA Film School from the late 1960s-1980s. In the wake of the Watts Riots and other events of social unrest happening in the United States these filmmakers sought it upon themselves to create impactful and innovative films that voiced the experiences of Black communities in the United states and abroad. Ultimately, their studies offered a counter-vision to mainstream cinema by calling the need for change, accountability, and unity through powerful story-telling.

For further exploration of the UCLA Rebellion visit the link:

The Story of L.A Rebellion

The films featured in this pre-show include:

"The Kitchen" by Alile Sharon Larkin (1975)

8mm b/w

Filmmaker Alile Sharon Larkin visualizes a mental ward as a possible equivalent to prison incarceration for women of color. The cause of a woman’s nervous breakdown here is personal and political, namely hair, a trauma for many Black women that has engaged the attention of African American filmmakers on both coasts. The Kitchen also bears another message, one of compassion for children who are physically abused by their parents. Alile Sharon Larkin would brilliantly capture a child’s perspective in her next film, Your Children Come Back to You (1979). —Jan-Christopher Horak

The Kitchen

"Day Dream Therapy" by Bernard Nicolas (1977)

Digital video, transferred from 16mm, b/w & color

Daydream Therapy is set to Nina Simone’s haunting rendition of “Pirate Jenny” and concludes with Archie Shepp’s “Things Have Got to Change.” Filmed in Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey by activist-turned-filmmaker Bernard Nicolas as his first project at UCLA, this short film poetically envisions the fantasy life of a hotel worker whose daydreams provide an escape from workplace indignities. —Allyson Nadia Field

Day Dream Therapy

"Medea" by Ben Caldwell (1973)

Digital video, transferred from 16mm, color

Ben Caldwell’s Medea, a collage piece made on an animation stand and edited entirely in the camera, combines live action and rapidly edited still images of Africans and African Americans which function like flashes of history that the unborn child will inherit. Caldwell invokes Amiri Baraka’s poem “Part of the Doctrine” in this experimental meditation on art history, Black imagery, identity and heritage. —Allyson Nadia Field

Medea

"Rain" (1978) by Melvonna Ballenger

Digital video, transferred from 3/4" videotape, b/w

Director Melvonna Ballenger’s Rain (Nyesha) shows how awareness can lead to a more fulfilling life. In the film, a female typist goes from apathetic to empowered through the help of a man giving out political fliers on the street. Using John Coltrane’s song “After the Rain,” Ballenger’s narration of the film meditates on rainy days and their impact. The rain in this short film doesn’t signify defeat, but offers renewal and “a chance to recollect, a cool out.” —Trisha Lendo

Rain

"Ujamii Uhuru Schule Community Freedom School" (1974) by Don Amis

Digital video transferred from 16mm, color

Ujamii Uhuru Schule (Swahili for Community Freedom School) is the day-in-the-life portrait of an Afrocentric primary learning academy located in South Los Angeles. Focusing on the virtues of the three Rs — Respect, Righteousness and Revolution — the curriculum also teaches the importance of cultural values and self-defense. Shot in high contrast to emulate the color spectrum of the Pan-African flag, Don Amis punctuates the documentary with African chants, syncopated drums and poignant narration by the school’s faculty. Learn, baby, learn. —Tony Best

Ujami Uhuru Schule Community Freedom School

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