For African, Afro-Latino, and African Americans, Black History is 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To the rest of the world, February was set aside to celebrate the culture.
But in the spirit of collective collaboration, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has planned the “Regeneration Summit: A Celebration of Black Cinema,” a three-day summit featuring live entertainment, workshops, screenings, panel discussions, and food vendors, programmed in conjunction with the museum’s groundbreaking exhibition “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971.”
The summit will take place Friday, February 3, through Sunday, February 5. The summit will convene film artists, activists, musicians, and key people dedicated to preserving Black film history, including Julie Dash, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, Janaya Future Khan, Shola Lynch, Justice Maya Singleton, and more.
The positive response to the “Regeneration” exhibit led to its extension to July 16, 2023, and the launch of a new curriculum guide, which invites teachers and high school students to celebrate Black cinema, expand their understandings of historical context, and examine the importance of telling inclusive stories.
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The guide includes select biographies of influential thinkers and filmmakers including Josephine Baker, Sidney Poitier, Madeline Anderson and James Baldwin. It also includes explorations of the exhibition’s contemporary artworks– including work by artists Glenn Ligon, Kara Walker, Gary Simmons and Theaster Gates – unique film companion pieces, topical essays exploring foundational ideas about race and film, as well as discussion questions and activities for active learning.
Additionally, throughout February, the museum will release original videos on its YouTube channel that serve as an expansion of Regeneration’s in-gallery experience and enable audiences to engage with the exhibition’s content from anywhere in the world.
“I am thrilled that the public will have an opportunity to experience the full breadth of this exhibition in such a joyful way, and that we are making resources—such as our curriculum guide, programs, and Regeneration website—more accessible to everyone,” said Jacqueline Stewart, director and president of the Academy Museum.
“The Regeneration Summit truly offers something for everyone, and I hope folks will come out to learn, share, and be inspired by the legacies of these pioneering Black film artists.”
To learn more, visit academymuseum.org.
