The New Hollywood and the LA Rebellion: two solitudes?

In the late 1960's and early 1970's in Los Angeles, a new movement of black filmmakers emerged, named the L.A. Rebellion by film scholar Clyde Taylor. These young filmmakers sought to provide an alternative black cinema to the hegemonic Hollywood cinema. They engaged in collective film- making and in collective study of many international styles of film-making emerging at the time. Best known among these filmmakers was Julie Dash, Charles Burnett, and Haile Gerima, but the movement was much larger. At the same time in New York and Los Angeles, Hollywood was producing its own alternative, largely created by a new generation of Jewish and Italian American filmmakers. This alternative became known as the New Hollywood. It presented a grimier, more pessimistic set of narratives often focused on anti-heroes. This seminar will screen key films and explore the histories of these movements for connections, separations, and continuities. Students will be required to keep a weekly journal.