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Birth and Rebirth of a Nation considers current issues of race and representation in the media and beyond. D.W. Griffith’s notorious white supremacist manifesto is discussed in the context of contemporary developments in an attempt to reconcile the racial imagination of the average American of today with that of the average American of less than a century ago, when The Birth of a Nation was the most popular film of the day. Speakers analyze recent scholarship on racism in the period of the film and examine the film’s legacy and continuing impact. How do we think critically about the contested notion of a “post-racial” America as we look back at history? How has the social, political, and cultural context that created The Birth of a Nation transformed over time? Organized on occasion of the Vera List Center's 2009–2010 program theme, Speculating on Change. 10:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m.
Screening of D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915), b/w & color, silent, 180 minutes. Original sound score and live accompaniment by Michael Stein (Graduate of The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music), introduced by New School Jazz faculty member Sonny Kompanek. 2:00—5:00 p.m.
Colloquium
Speakers include Douglas A. Blackmon, Pulitzer-prize winning author and Atlanta Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal; David Blight, Class of 1954 Professor of American History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, Yale University; Bill Gaskins, photographer, essayist, and professor of Photography and Art History, Parsons The New School for Design; Margo Jefferson, Associate Professor of Writing, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts; Michelle Materre, Assistant Professor, Media Studies and Film, The New School for General Studies; Miriam J. Petty, assistant professor of Film and Media Studies, Rutgers University-Newark; and Michele Wallace, professor of English, Women’s Studies and Film, CUNY Graduate Center and City College of New York. 6:00—7:30 p.m.
Screening of DJ Spooky’s Rebirth of a Nation (2002), color, sound, 90 minutes. A critical revision of Griffith’s historic film, followed by Q & A with filmmaker Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid). Presented with support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
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