Uncategorized
How the Jewish Museum brought Black film history to new audiences
It was 1970 and Black-Jewish relations weren’t at their best. Two years earlier, the Ocean-Brownsville teachers’ strike in Brooklyn had pitted Black and Jewish New Yorkers against one another. Distrust lingered between Black artists and museums after the controversial 1969 Met exhibit Harlem on My Mind showcased life and culture in Harlem, but excluded the work of Black Harlem natives. The Art Workers Coalition had just been founded, demanding better Black and Puerto Rican representation in museums, particularly MoMA.
Karl Katz, director of the Jewish Museum, was determined to find a way to connect the museum to its “African-American neighbors.” He noted in his memoir The Exhibitionist that, although Harlem “began only a dozen or so blocks north” of the museum, their exhibitions “generally had trouble drawing a diverse crowd.” When a friend told Katz about race films — films from the early 20th century made specifically for Black audiences usually starring all Black casts — Katz knew he wanted to show them at the museum.
In 1970, the film series The Black Film — a showing of 14 Black movies made between 1925 and 1965 — opened. Curated by an interracial team — Black film scholar Pearl Bowser, color-barrier breaking TV producer Charles Hobson, and psychologist and art exhibitor Mel Roman — the event was a collaboration between the museum and the Harlem Cultural Council. A number of publications, including the Black newspaper The New York Amsterdam News, covered it.
“It’s all about this community,” said Gillian Bowser, Pearl Bowser’s daughter and a professor of ecosystem science and sustainability at Colorado State University. “And a community saving and celebrating its history. And the Jewish Museum was part of that initial effort to recognize the importance of saving the everyday voice.”
Now, over 50 years later, excerpts from the films are back on display at the Jewish Museum.
Hidden Gems
The films in the series were collected by Bowser, a former cookbook author who became known as the Godmother of Black Independent Cinema for her work in film preservation and scholarship on Oscar Micheaux. Micheaux was a prolific race film producer and owner of the first Black-owned movie company, Lincoln Motion Picture Company.
The museum program included Micheaux’s 1925 film Body and Soul, starring Paul Robeson in his first film role. Historians also believe it’s the only film he ever worked on with a Black director. Robeson plays twins — one a conniving criminal and the other an innocent young man who has to deal with his brother’s misdeeds.
Another film is an early work by Melvin Van Peebles, director of the pioneering blaxploitation film Sweet Sweetback’s Bassdassss Song. His 1957 film in the Bowser collection, Sunlight, has some of the criminal elements of his most famous work, but is primarily a tender portrayal of young Black love.
The Negro Soldier, a 1944 production by the United States Department of War that celebrates Black soldiers’ valor during World War II.
“What a surprise the Nazis will get,” the narrator says as the troops march on. “Black, brown, yellow and white men from all Americans land on the airfield of Berlin.”
The 1970 series opened the year before Van Peebles released Sweet Sweetback’s and kicked off the blaxploitation movement, which often highlighted criminal lifestyles. The films Bowser showed offered a different form of Black representation. Lisa Collins, a documentarian and mentee of Bowser’s, noted that it “was so revolutionary at that time” to have films showing Black Americans as judges, scientists and working professionals.
Saving film history
Bowser preserved both American and international films, including movies from London and Senegal. Without her, it’s possible some of these films would have never seen the light of day. Her friend and collaborator Louis Massiah, a MacArthur awarded filmmaker and founder of the non-profit media center Scribe Video in Philadelphia, told me she knew where to find old reels or fragments of film strips at risk of being thrown out.
“She would go to movie theaters and she would chat up projectionists,” Massiah told me, noting that Pearl was “extraordinarily charming.”
He commented that “it was absolutely rare” for people in the general public to have films made by non-commercial Black filmmakers
“This is before the Internet. This is before the accessibility of films,” said Massiah. With money from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Bowser was able to take the race films on the road. “For a lot of folks, it was a revelation.”
When Gillian Bowser was a kid, she accompanied her mother to screenings at art house theaters and public libraries, often tasked with being the projectionist at the latter.
“The people hadn’t seen Black people in Westerns, they hadn’t seen all these films that were shot that were just forgotten for a long time,” she said.
The Jewish Museum was one of the first major institutions to showcase Bowser’s work and expanded the audience she was able to reach. She was later able to take the films around the country, including on a tour to various historically Black colleges and universities.
A revival of art — and issues of the past
For the new exhibit, filmmakers Lisa Collins, Mark Schwartzburt and Anthony Jamison cut the 14 films from the 1970 exhibit into short vignettes that are projected onto a large wall on the museum’s third floor and played on a loop. Collins and Schwartzburt, mentees of Bowser who had been working with her on an Oscar Micheaux documentary until her death in 2023, conceived of the new installation through conversations with New York Jewish Film Festival Director Aviva Weintraub. Collins told me Weintraub was integral in getting the museum to agree to the project, although with one complex stipulation: that each film be cut down to 30 seconds. The process took hours of editing, and a few times the three filmmakers tried to pitch Weintraub slightly longer cuts, but the final vignettes still capture the heart of the original films.
“At the end of the day, we always wanted to show enough of the film to keep you interested and to get you interested to see the larger version,” said Jamison.
On a smaller monitor, two short films play on rotation. One is an excerpt of a short documentary Collins and Schwartzburt made shot in 2021 when a 90-year-old Bowser returned to the Jewish Museum for the first time in 50 years and spoke to them about her memories of working there. Bowser passed away two years later. Another is a segment from a 1984 episode of Paper Tiger Television, a public access TV program based in New York. A young Bowser explains Micheaux’s legacy, crediting his genius and “chutzpah” for the strides he made in Black cinema.
Many of the films from the 1970 series are available for viewing in various places, such as Kino Lorber’s “Pioneers of African-American Cinema” collection, the Criterion Channel, and other streaming services. Bowser’s total collection includes over 500 films, which are stored at the Smithsonian institute, and are a testament to her dedication to making sure Black stories don’t disappear. For a long time, Black filmmakers struggled to have their achievements and contribution to American history recognized.
“As the Black community, we may be facing this again,” Gillian said, noting the recent removal of monuments to slavery at national parks. “Our job now is to make sure these stories get saved and retold.”
In an interview, Schwartzburt expressed a similar sentiment.
“The political environment we’re in right now, where there is so much erasure going on and backstepping — taking back civil rights — this couldn’t be more important,” he said.
The post How the Jewish Museum brought Black film history to new audiences appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
Portuguese artists pull out of Jerry Seinfeld-headlined festival
(JTA) — Several Portuguese artists have dropped out of a comedy festival in Lisbon headlined by Jerry Seinfeld, citing their support for Palestinians and implying opposition to Seinfeld’s support for Israel.
At least six acts over recent days have canceled their appearances at the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest, a new international comedy festival in the Portuguese capital. The event from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 has advertised that it will host Seinfeld’s first live appearance in Portugal.
Though none of the artists who withdrew mentioned Seinfeld by name, some hinted at a boycott against his pro-Israel views. The Jewish comedian has become one of Hollywood’s most prominent advocates for Israel since October 2023.
Actress and comedian Inês Aires Pereira announced on Instagram on Saturday that “one of the names” featured at the festival “persistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible,” adding, “We cannot relativize or normalize a genocide.”
The comedy duo Cebola Mol posted a graphic of themselves with a watermelon, widely recognized as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians. “We will celebrate justice, freedom and joy with you on another occasion,” they said on Instagram.
The festival announced on Friday that performances by the groups Tributo Pop and Conjunto Cuca Monga were also canceled, but did not provide reasons. Two other acts, comedian Pedro Tochas and visual artist Vhils, shared their cancellations on Instagram without further details.
Seinfeld has aligned himself with Israel during its current conflict in Gaza, following decades of largely avoiding commenting on political issues. He visited Israel in December 2023 to meet with the families of hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 of that year. Since then, he has attracted attention for a series of dismissive remarks toward pro-Palestinian advocates.
During an appearance last year at Duke University, Seinfeld compared pro-Palestinian activists with the Ku Klux Klan, saying, “The Klan is actually a little better here because they can come right out and say, ‘We don’t like Blacks, we don’t like Jews.’ OK, that’s honest.”
Representatives of Seinfeld and producers of the MEO Commedia a La Carte Fest did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The post Portuguese artists pull out of Jerry Seinfeld-headlined festival appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
UK, France, Canada to ban goods from Israeli settlements
(JTA) —
The United Kingdom, France and Canada will ban goods produced in the West Bank settlements and Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament on Tuesday, explaining that all such communities were deemed by his country to be illegal.
The declaration exacerbated the rising tensions riling the traditionally strong Israel-U.K. alliance. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned that these steps stoked antisemitism against British Jews in an on-camera statement to reporters in Jerusalem.
Sa’ar charged that the measures were a politicized hostile action deliberately taken ahead of Friday’s Jewish New Year holiday, with an eye toward influencing the country’s Oct. 27 elections.
Israel, he said, is responding by closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem that services Palestinians. It will also remove British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat and halt the British training of Palestinian Authority security forces. He added that Israel would bar the entry of 12 British politicians and other nationals involved in anti-Israel activity.
France and Canada have also announced a ban on the import of settlement goods, Miliband told parliament. He noted that the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway have either banned goods or in the process of doing so.
In the same address, Miliband affirmed Israel’s right to exist, reflected on his own Jewish roots and rejected the notion that there was a connection between the policy steps against West Bank settlement activity and the safety of British Jews.
What is motivating the U.K., Miliband said, is “a deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community” as well as Israel’s “clear intent to bury the Palestinian state.”
In response, he said, the U.K. “will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied [Palestinian] territory” as part of a “new comprehensive sanctions regime” that will be put in place within nine months.
This will include, he said, “action against specific companies and individuals who provide services, such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate for settlement expansion.”
To those who “finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of U.K. sanctions,” Miliband warned.
Miliband clarified that the ban would not affect the export of religious items or life-saving Israeli medications. He explained that trade with the settlements was minimal and that the greater impact would be the sanctions on services.
As part of declaring the ban, Miliband said that the British government is also adopting the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion that all Israeli settlement activity over the pre-1967 border was illegal.
But others in Parliament pushed back against Miliband’s declaration. MP Richard Tice of Britain’s right-wing Reform party said that the sanctions were a grave mistake that would “embolden the scourge of antisemitism against British Jews on British streets,” endanger ties with the United States and lead to “tit for tat” sanctions from Israel.
Miliband shot back that “no British Jew is responsible for the policies of the Israeli government and it behooves all of us to make sure that there can be no confusion about that,” saying that Tice’s statement “fell foul” of that goal.
The U.K. action is the latest escalation in tensions between Israel and the Labour-led British government headed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took power in July.
The prior government, led by former Labour Premier Keir Starmer, had already angered Israel by recognizing Palestinian statehood in 2025, suspending licenses for the export of arms to Israel and freezing talks toward a free-trade agreement.
France and Canada are also announcing a ban on the import of settlement goods, Miliband told parliament. He explained that the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, and Norway have either banned goods or in the process of doing so.
In concert with Miliband’s appearance at Parliament, Britain and 11 other countries issued a joint statement pledging “their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law.”
Those other countries were Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
The 12-country bloc said it was taking this step to maintain the viability of the two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, describing the situation in the West Bank as “rapidly deteriorating.”
In its statement, the bloc stressed that it was taking this step amid an “unprecedented level of settler violence and settlement expansion, including the unacceptable decision to publish tenders for the E1 settlement project.” That project is seen as cutting through land that would render a Palestinian state unviable.
The post UK, France, Canada to ban goods from Israeli settlements appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
California Gov. Newsom, a presidential hopeful, slams Netanyahu and AIPAC in PBS interview
(JTA) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a 2028 presidential hopeful, ventured farther than ever in his criticisms of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a weekend interview that delved into the Democratic Party’s relationship with Israel.
“I think it’s overwhelmingly opposed to the current regime in Israel,” Newsom said of the party, in a PBS News Hour interview with Amna Nawaz.
Pressed by Nawaz on divisions among his colleagues on Israel, Newsom denied that the subject is “even controversial anymore,” stressing that “the condemnation of what Bibi Netnayahu’s doing is almost universal.” The governor slammed the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza and condemned the settler violence that has expanded in the West Bank.
“We want a democratic and secure Israel, and we want a secure and democratic Palestinian state as well right next door,” Newsom said, adding that Netanyahu has proved counterproductive to achieving a two-state solution.
Though he repeatedly maintained that Democrats are not divided on Israel, the governor acknowledged that “some of the language” by fellow Democrats “has been weaponized.” Certain “aspects of rhetoric” from individual candidates, he added, are on “the spectrum of concern,” Newsom said.
A number of candidates from the party’s far left place most if not all of the blame on Israel for a war in Gaza that has resulted in tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths. and downplay the role of Hamas in launching the war with the Oct. 7, 2023 raid inside Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were abducted. Newsom’s rhetoric is of a piece with party moderates who are critical of the Israeli government but who call for a secure Israel, reject Hamas and who resist pressure from the left to call Israel’s actions “genocide.”
Newsom nonetheless insisted that the party is unified on the issue. “But I think universally, everyone agrees, even if you don’t think it’s genocide, that it’s been a moral catastrophe,” he said of the war in Gaza. “The vast majority of us also agree about the atrocities on Oct. 7th and how horrific and unacceptable it was, and the terrorism that was perpetrated by Hamas.”
Newsom was among the many U.S. politicians to visit Israel in October 2023, meeting with survivors and families impacted by the attacks.
During a March book tour, Newsom sparked a backlash when he said that some people were referring to Israel “appropriately as sort of an apartheid state.” He quickly walked back these remarks, telling Politico that he had used the term “in the context of the direction that Bibi is going.”
“I revere the state of Israel,” he declared at the time.
The governor warned, however, that if Netanyahu proceeds in the direction of West Bank annexation, apartheid could become “a word you may hear others use.”
In addition to amplifying his condemnation of Netanyahu this weekend, Newsom also addressed the fact that fewer Democrats are accepting funds from political action committees affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobbying group.
As for Newsom himself, Track AIPAC, an organization that compiles Federal Election Commission data to flag pro-Israel campaign contributions, did not log any such donations to the likely presidential candidate. But the group did flag him as “pro-Israel.”
“It’s a minority of Democrats that are accepting AIPAC,” the governor said, noting a “dramatic change” over the last couple years.
“The vast majority of Democrats I talk to, even Democrats in the past that have in the past have taken AIPAC money, are pledging not to now,” Newsom added. “That’s more of a mainstream position, interestingly, within the Democratic Party.”
The post California Gov. Newsom, a presidential hopeful, slams Netanyahu and AIPAC in PBS interview appeared first on The Forward.
