Shorts Program 2

In these four moving stories about coming of age in urban America, Black youth struggle against the many restrictions placed on their life possibilities, from being railroaded into the military and dead-end jobs, to facing racism at school, to navigating the conflicting expectations of friends and family.

Rich
(S. Torriano Berry, 1982, 16mm, 22min)
On the day of his high school graduation, an African American youth battles for self-determination as a convergence of forces attempt to shuttle him toward a future of lowered expectations.

Shipley Street
(Jacqueline Frazier, 1981, video from 16mm, 25 min)
Jacqueline Frazier's short neatly encapsulates the everyday racism of white institutions in its story of a working-class couple who decide to send their daughter to an all-white Catholic school, where the girl is confronted with harsh discipline and racist attitudes.

Fragrance
(Gay Abel-Bey, 1991, video from ¾”, 38 min)
Director Gay Abel-Bey explores the complex issue of whether African Americans should be fighting for justice at home or abroad in this Vietnam-era story of a young man who, on the verge of shipping off to war, is confronted with the conflicting ideals of his veteran father, who encourages his patriotism, and his militant brother, who urges him to stay home in protest.

Your Children Come Back to You  -  New print!
(Alile Sharon Larkin, 1979, 16mm, 30 min)
Eking out a living from welfare check to welfare check, a single mother is forced to decide whether to look after her daughter herself or allow her sister-in-law to provide "more than enough" to go around.

Sponsors
Presented in association with UCLA Film & Television Archive and supported in part by grants from the Getty Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The series is curated by Allyson Nadia Field, Jan-Christopher Horak, Shannon Kelley and Jacqueline Stewart. Complete details on UCLA’s L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema initiative here.

University of Chicago Arts Council, Franke Institute for the Humanities, Tom Gunning/Mellon Fund, UC Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, Logan Center for the Arts, Conversations at the Edge, Block Cinema, Black Cinema House.