From the early 20th century to today, film in the United States is used to provide entertainment for people and to also teach life lessons. The people who were in control of providing entertainment and teaching those life lessons were filmmakers. Filmmakers had the capability to construct a story before the eyes of many people across the world. Many filmmakers in early American film were Caucasian, but not all. The focus of this essay will be on African American filmmakers. Black Filmmakers brought great talent to the screen and early on was often able to produce movies without constraints because they were not recognized by major studios, therefore many of them did not have to follow the production code, which set censorships on movies. …show more content…
He wanted to become an author. In 1913, Micheaux published his first novel, The Conquest. He found great success as a novelist and he began to inspire for greatness. Within a short time, Oscar published, The Forged Note, and The Homesteader. His books, especially The Homesteader, became popular across the United States to the point, George Johnson reached out to him to remake the book into a film. Johnson was booking manager of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, a successful black film production company. Ultimately, Micheaux turned that offer down and created his own firm, which was called “Micheaux Film and Book Company (Butters). Oscar’s first film, “The Homesteader” was released in 1919 in Chicago. He film was released during the era of silent film. This film was considered the first full-length film made by an African-American. Soon after the release of his first film, Oscar Micheaux continued to release films that not only the African American Community wanted to see, but other races wanted to also. His films led the way for other “race films” that told a more realistic story of black people and their lives. Micheaux’s films often dealt with controversial issues. (Kelly). Oscar’s films were based on two themes, the exposure of racial hostility and prejudice toward African Americans, and alternative depictions of black manhood (Butters). Unfortunately, Oscar Micheaux passed away on a business trip in 1951. It is important to know African American Filmmakers looked inspired to be like Micheaux, and this included Spike