Author David F. Walker has released a book titled “Black Film: A History of Black Representation and Participation in the Movies.”
An in-dept piece which delves into the history of Black cinema, Walker’s book takes readers through a historical lens from 1890, the early days of film, to present day culminating with Ryan’s Coogler’s success with the movie “Sinners.”
From the first Black-owned and -operated film studio founded in 1910 to Black filmmakers and crew that have been working against the grain for representation in the film since film as a medium began, he explores W. Griffith’s 1915 racist drama”The Birth of a Nation” (1915) . A drama he calls “one of the most creatively significant and morally repugnant films ever made.”
No Black director has won the Academy Award for Best Director Award-winning author David F. Walker notes in his book. “To add insult to injury, no Black woman has ever been nominated for Best Director.”
He also sheds light on Tressie Souders the first Black woman to direct
a film and Maria P. Williams, who is considered to be the first
Black woman to produce and direct a movie.
From clowns to coons, Black masculinity to blaxploitation, Walker, an award-winning comic book writer, filmmaker, has penned a 200 page historical masterpiece, noted for its detailed research on the history of Black film.
