Read #OscarsSoWhite, an informed commentary on this trending topic written by guest author Barbara Tepa Lupack for WSM’s Cinefiles-Ithaca blog. An author and editor of numerous books on American literature, film and culture, Ms. Lupack is a former Fulbright Professor, dean at SUNY/ESC, and a “New York State Public Scholar”.
Wharton Studio Museum is thrilled to announce that Barbara Tepa Lupack has joined the WSM Advisory Board. Among her many works is the recent biography on silent filmmaker Richard E. Norman:
“Richard E. Norman and Race Filmmaking:
In the early 1900s, so-called race filmmakers set out to produce black-oriented pictures to counteract the racist caricatures that had dominated cinema from its inception. Richard E. Norman, a southern-born white filmmaker, was one such pioneer. From humble beginnings as a roving “home talent” filmmaker, recreating photoplays that starred local citizens, Norman would go on to produce high-quality feature-length race pictures. Together with his better-known contemporaries Oscar Micheaux and Noble and George Johnson, Richard E. Norman helped to define early race filmmaking. Making use of unique archival resources, including Norman’s personal and professional correspondence, detailed distribution records, and newly discovered original shooting scripts, this book offers a vibrant portrait of race in early cinema.”
Related link:
Norman Studios in Jacksonville, FL
–Q&A With Richard Norman Biographer Barbara Tepa Lupack