MISSION
Created in 2008 in Charlotte, NC, the Classic Black Cinema Series (C.B.C.S.) has been specifically designed as a vehicle to expose the community to the vast artistic value black film has had around the globe throughout the years.
The series showcases the amazing diversity of cultures and experiences that are woven within the African Diaspora through a selection of films.
Our mission is to appeal to as diverse a population as possible and further the appreciation of Black Cinema. We aim to not only draw a diverse group of movie goers together, but also to provide a forum for Charlotte area residents to openly discuss social issues and the unique legacy of black filmmaking that has served as a frame of reference for today’s contemporary films.
The films explore common themes that run through black films that are influenced by black culture in itself.The love of movies is cross-cultural and we seek to take advantage of this universal pastime to provide a cultural bridge in our community.
LOCATION:
harvey b. gantt center
551 S. Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28202
COST:
FREE FOR GANTT CENTER MEMBERS OR $9.00 WITH REGULAR MUSEUM ADMISSION
upcoming screenings
Each month we showcase the amazing diversity of cultures and experiences that are woven within the African Diaspora through a selection of films. We are diligent about selecting films that interest and reflect the artistic contribution that black culture has had in the world and foster relevant, topical, compelling and even challenging discussion among our audience.
Our movies screen every 2nd Sunday of the month
CLAUDINE (1974)
John Berry’s Claudine tells the fictional story of a single mother struggling to meet the basic needs of her family and navigating the demands of that system. Where welfare highlights the widespread failings of a bureaucracy seemingly designed to stymie most individuals’ attempts to benefit from its services, Claudine examines the rippling effects that those failings have on one family trying to survive in Harlem.
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974)
Story of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
Thomasine & Bushrod (1974)
The exploits of 1910s bounty hunter Thomasine and bandit Bushrod who, after rekindling their old romance, take to robbing banks to survive, stealing from rich whites and sharing their loot with the poor on the harsh frontier.
WILLIE DYNAMITE (1974)
Willie Dynamite is a Blaxploitation film like I have never seen before. Sure, it has the pimps, the cops trying to bust the pimps, the “bitches”, it has everything that you would think of when you think of Blaxploitation, but this film has a realism to it. The film is outrageous in the way that pimp culture is presented, but it takes a kind of dark look at what it is like to be a pimp or a prostitute. The pimp culture is presented in this kind of bigger than life aspect with the way that the lead dresses to the way the “bitches” get their marks. Then there is the social worker who wants Willie to change his ways.
THE KLANSMAN (1974)
A small southern town has just been rocked by a tragedy: a young woman has been violently raped. The white town fathers immediately declare that the attacker had to be black, and place the blame on tGarth, a young black man. Assuming that the men in white sheets aren't intent on holding a fair and impartial trial, Garth takes to the woods as the Klansmen lynching party hunts him down.
Get Christie Love (1974)
Directed by William Graham (Return to the Blue Lagoon) and written by George Kirgo, this is the pilot movie for the eventual series that starred Teresa Graves as Christie Love. Graves was the second African-American woman to star in her own television series after Diahann Carroll in Julia.
SHEBA BABY(1974)
Private detective Sheba Shayne (Pam Grier) has come back home to Louisville from the big city of Chicago and she’s fighting back against the criminals out to ruin her father’s insurance business. Teaming up with her father’s partner — and her former lover — Brick Williams (Austin Stoker), she does exactly what she set out to do, even if the local cops warn her off and the thugs blow up her car.
Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
Steve Jackson and Wardell Franklin sneak out of their houses to visit Madame Zenobia's: a high-class but illegal nightclub. During their visit, however, the place is robbed and they are forced to hand over their wallets. Steve's wallet turns out to have contained a winning lottery ticket, and together they must recover their stolen property.
ABBY (1974)
Living with her pious pastor husband and her equally religious mother, the prim, proper and polite Christian marriage counselor Abby Williams is about to have a close encounter with the supernatural when her archaeologist and exorcist father-in-law, Bishop Garnet Williams, inadvertently unleashes an ancient evil while in Africa. Now possessed by an unholy Nigerian demon, Abby becomes a violent, obscene and sexually obsessed vessel of pure evil and it appears nothing can stop her or the entity that controls her. Can Bishop Williams expel the demon inside her?
Space is the Place (1974)
Sun Ra--space-age prophet, pharoanic jester, shaman-philosopher and avant-jazz keyboardist/bandleader--lands his spaceship in Oakland, having been presumed lost in space for a few years. With Black Power on the rise, Ra disembarks and proclaims himself "the alter-destiny." He holds a myth-vs.-reality rap session with black inner-city youth at a rec center, threatening "to chain you up and take you with me, like they did you in Africa," if they resist his plea to go to outer space.
Three the hard way (1974)
The story involves a white supremist plot to taint the United States water supply with a toxin that is harmless to whites but lethal to blacks. The only obstacles that stand in the way of this dastardly plan are Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly, who shoot, kick and karate chop their way to final victory.
Amazing Grace (1974)
An elderly woman in a Baltimore neighborhood finds out that a somewhat slow-witted neighbor is being put up for local office by some shady politicians who have no interest in their neighborhood but are interested in getting their hands on the money that comes into it. She gets some neighborhood people together and together they plan to thwart the politicians' schemes.
About
CURATOR AND HOST: Felix curtis
After retiring from a long career as a computer systems analyst, Felix came to Charlotte in 2006 from the Oakland / San Francisco Bay Area. Being an avid film buff and historian Felix started sharing his passion with the public as a curator of “The San Francisco Black Film Festival” and “Black Filmworks” the annual film festival component of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame where he later served as Executive Director.
Felix was actively involved with Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame for over 12 years, however, he was a participant in their activities since it’s inception 28 years ago.
His first involvement with the organization was as a ‘Community” level judge for the Film, Video and Screenplay Competition. This was his first exposure to the collective works of independent Black filmmakers. Felix was enthralled and fascinated by the works and took it upon himself to get more involved by enhancing the processes of judging and presentation. He coordinated the annual Film and Video Competition for over 7 years which involved a review of all films submitted to insure the proper category slot; the selection of judges and group leaders along with the film categories to be judged by each group.
His work on the Steering Committee of Black Filmworks (the Annual Film Festival component of BFHF) consisted of curating the film screening selections. During Black Filmworks he moderated the filmmaker question and answer sessions. In order to make available the works of independent Black filmmakers to the public on an ongoing basis he began hosting a popular monthly screening at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, a landmark event space in Oakland that lasted for 4 years.
![Film historian Felix Curtis shines light on the artistic value of the complex Black film canon. DISCOVERING BLACK FILM CLASSICS SouthPark Magazine By Michael Solender October 20, 2020Two years after moving to Charlotte from the San Francisco Bay area in 2006, Felix Curtis was itching to bring his love of lesser-known films featuring Black artists and themes to Charlotte audiences. Curtis came to Charlotte as the longtime curator of the San Francisco Black Film Festival and Black Filmworks, the annual festival component of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, where he later served as executive director. In 2008, the Classic Black Cinema Series was born, screening the second Sunday afternoon monthly at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture. (The series has been online during the pandemic.) SouthPark recently spoke with Curtis, who shared insights on his selection process, race films and contemporary filmmakers to watch. Comments were edited for brevity. What criteria do you use to designate a film classic and choose for screening? It’s the quality and the content of the film. Since launching the series, most films have been in that ’30s to ’60s period. Initially I looked to noteworthy talent like Dorothy Dandridge, Oscar Micheaux, the great Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker and others.Recently, I’ve been showing the films that have been done in the ’70s. Half or maybe even three quarters of my audience hasn’t seen these films. The older films are the ones that I really gravitate toward, because they highlight actors that people aren’t familiar with or didn’t know existed but were great actors. You mention Micheaux, why is he so venerated?He’s identified as the godfather of Black cinema. Modern-day filmmakers like Spike Lee and John Singleton found inspiration in Micheaux. He was a guerrilla filmmaker, making films on small budgets and [with] borrowed material. Two classic Micheaux films I recommend are both silent. Within Our Gates (1920) was a counterpoint to Birth of a Nation (1915). Body and Soul (1925) is a classic because it was Paul Robeson’s first film, and he played two parts. There was an era (from the ’20s to the ’40s) of what were called “Race Films.” What is their background? Race films were films [made by Black film companies for Black audiences] that had a predominantly Black cast and predominantly racial themes. There was segregation in the mainstream theaters during this time. These were serious films though, not comedies. They were dramas. There was always this element of the color, of there being either someone passing for white or someone upholding the Black race against those who were trying to degrade the race. In the ’70s there were Blaxploitation films. These films had a predominantly black cast, though the subject matter was usually that of ‘getting one over on the man.’ Superfly (1972) is a good example. One of my favorites is Willie Dynamite (1973). It was a Blaxploitation film featuring a good-natured pimp. Ironically, the star of this film was one of the original stars of Sesame Street, Roscoe Orman. What do you find exciting about contemporary Black film? Female filmmakers are showing what they’re capable of. Ava DuVernay is spearheading that whole genre of positive image, love stories — dealing with things other than race, dealing with relationships. Ryan Coogler is doing great things. Black Panther (2018) is a culmination of his prior great work. Fruitvale Station (2013) was great. Many actors are getting into directing now. Regina King is doing great work acting and directing, and Spike Lee is still producing Spike Lee movies. Hollywood is not the epicenter of quality films. Independent films are now dominating as far as the quality, and audiences are responding.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b9d22b414fb53851181956/1610232723988-HAOR7J43AJG31IH1GU8B/Felix+Curtis-4.jpg)
Film historian Felix Curtis shines light on the artistic value of the complex Black film canon.
DISCOVERING BLACK FILM CLASSICS
SouthPark Magazine
By Michael Solender
October 20, 2020
Two years after moving to Charlotte from the San Francisco Bay area in 2006, Felix Curtis was itching to bring his love of lesser-known films featuring Black artists and themes to Charlotte audiences.
Curtis came to Charlotte as the longtime curator of the San Francisco Black Film Festival and Black Filmworks, the annual festival component of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, where he later served as executive director. In 2008, the Classic Black Cinema Series was born, screening the second Sunday afternoon monthly at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture. (The series has been online during the pandemic.)
SouthPark recently spoke with Curtis, who shared insights on his selection process, race films and contemporary filmmakers to watch.
Comments were edited for brevity.
What criteria do you use to designate a film classic and choose for screening?
It’s the quality and the content of the film. Since launching the series, most films have been in that ’30s to ’60s period. Initially I looked to noteworthy talent like Dorothy Dandridge, Oscar Micheaux, the great Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker and others.
Recently, I’ve been showing the films that have been done in the ’70s. Half or maybe even three quarters of my audience hasn’t seen these films. The older films are the ones that I really gravitate toward, because they highlight actors that people aren’t familiar with or didn’t know existed but were great actors.
You mention Micheaux, why is he so venerated?
He’s identified as the godfather of Black cinema. Modern-day filmmakers like Spike Lee and John Singleton found inspiration in Micheaux. He was a guerrilla filmmaker, making films on small budgets and [with] borrowed material. Two classic Micheaux films I recommend are both silent. Within Our Gates (1920) was a counterpoint to Birth of a Nation (1915). Body and Soul (1925) is a classic because it was Paul Robeson’s first film, and he played two parts.
There was an era (from the ’20s to the ’40s) of what were called “Race Films.” What is their background?
Race films were films [made by Black film companies for Black audiences] that had a predominantly Black cast and predominantly racial themes. There was segregation in the mainstream theaters during this time. These were serious films though, not comedies. They were dramas. There was always this element of the color, of there being either someone passing for white or someone upholding the Black race against those who were trying to degrade the race.
In the ’70s there were Blaxploitation films. These films had a predominantly black cast, though the subject matter was usually that of ‘getting one over on the man.’ Superfly (1972) is a good example. One of my favorites is Willie Dynamite (1973). It was a Blaxploitation film featuring a good-natured pimp. Ironically, the star of this film was one of the original stars of Sesame Street, Roscoe Orman.
What do you find exciting about contemporary Black film?
Female filmmakers are showing what they’re capable of. Ava DuVernay is spearheading that whole genre of positive image, love stories — dealing with things other than race, dealing with relationships. Ryan Coogler is doing great things. Black Panther (2018) is a culmination of his prior great work. Fruitvale Station (2013) was great. Many actors are getting into directing now. Regina King is doing great work acting and directing, and Spike Lee is still producing Spike Lee movies. Hollywood is not the epicenter of quality films. Independent films are now dominating as far as the quality, and audiences are responding.