L.A. Rebellion facts for kids

The L.A. Rebellion was a special group of young Black filmmakers. They studied at the UCLA Film School from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. These filmmakers wanted to create a new kind of Black cinema. Their movies offered a different view compared to typical Hollywood films. Sometimes, this movement is also called the "Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers" or the "UCLA Rebellion."

How the Movement Started

In 1953, Ike Jones made history as the first African American to graduate from the UCLA Film School. For the next 15 years, not many Black filmmakers attended the school. One important person was Vantile Whitfield, who started the Performing Arts Society of Los Angeles in 1964. He also earned his master's degree from UCLA in 1967.

By the late 1960s, more Black students began to join the film program. This was partly due to programs like affirmative action, which aimed to increase opportunities for diverse students. Among these new students were Charles Burnett, who had studied engineering, and Haile Gerima, an Ethiopian filmmaker.

Unlike earlier filmmakers, this new group didn't want to follow traditional Hollywood rules. They were inspired by films from places like Latin America, Africa, and Europe. These films often told real-life stories in new ways. This group became known as the "Los Angeles School of Black Filmmakers."

After some big events in Los Angeles, like the Watts Riots in 1965, students pushed for new programs. They wanted a program that focused on ethnographic studies. This meant making films that explored different cultures and real-life experiences. Elyseo J. Taylor, the only Black instructor at the UCLA Film School in the early 1970s, was a key teacher in this program.

Later, in 1974, Teshome Gabriel, a film expert, started teaching at UCLA. He became a mentor and friend to many of the filmmakers in the L.A. Rebellion movement.

Naming the L.A. Rebellion

The name "L.A. Rebellion" was first used by film scholar Clyde Taylor. He used it to describe this unique group of filmmakers.

In 1997, a student film group at the University of Chicago showed some of the first L.A. Rebellion films. This event helped people learn more about the movement. Jacqueline Stewart, a professor there, helped organize the program. It featured films by Charles Burnett, Haile Gerima, and Julie Dash.

In 2011, the UCLA Film and Television Archive held a huge event called "L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema." They found nearly 50 filmmakers from the movement, many of whom had not been recognized for a long time. They also saved and showed many of their films. A special book was published to go with the program, which then traveled to many cities around the world.

Key People in the L.A. Rebellion

Filmmakers

Many of these filmmakers wrote and directed their own movies. They also worked in different roles on various film projects early in their careers.

Actors

These actors appeared in many L.A. Rebellion films and are connected to the movement:

Supporters and Scholars

These people helped and studied the work of the L.A. Rebellion filmmakers:

• Clyde Taylor, a film critic who named the movement
• Elyseo J. Taylor, a filmmaker and instructor at UCLA
• Vantile Whitfield, an early Black UCLA Film School graduate
• Teshome Gabriel, a film scholar and Professor at UCLA
• Ntongela Masilela, a film scholar
• Jacqueline Najuma Stewart, a film scholar and Professor at Northwestern University
• Allyson Nadia Field, a Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA
• Jan-Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive

Important L.A. Rebellion Films

Here is a list of important short and feature-length films from the L.A. Rebellion filmmakers, listed by when they were released:

• Several Friends (1969)
• Single Parent Family: Images in Black (1976)
• Emma Mae (1976)
• Harvest: 3,000 Years (1976)
• Passing Through (1977)
• Killer of Sheep (1978)
• Bush Mama (1979)
• Penitentiary (1979)
• Water Ritual #1: An Urban Rite of Purification (1979)
• Your Children Come Back to You (1979)
• Ashes and Embers (1982)
• A Different Image (1982)
• Illusions (1982)
• Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
• Cycles (1989)
• To Sleep with Anger (1990)
• Daughters of the Dust (1991)
• Sankofa (1993)
• The Glass Shield (1994)
• Adwa (1999)
• Compensation (2000)

Influence and Lasting Impact

The L.A. Rebellion movement had a big impact on filmmaking. A documentary called Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA tells their story. It includes interviews with many of the filmmakers. Zeinabu irene Davis directed this film.

Several L.A. Rebellion films have been chosen for the National Film Registry. This means they are considered very important to American film history. These films include: Killer of Sheep (added in 1990), Daughters of the Dust (2004), Bless Their Little Hearts (2013), and To Sleep with Anger (2017).

See also

• African cinema
• Blaxploitation
• Cuban cinema
• Cult classic
• European art cinema
• French New Wave
• Italian neorealism
• Latin American cinema
• New Hollywood