“Its rediscovery plants another missing beacon in the history of cinema.” —New Yorker
Two lovers defy their families in one of Louisiana’s first “free communities of color.” While delighting in its feisty feminist heroine, Cane River exposes subtle prejudice within the Creole community as well as tensions of class and the legacy of slavery passed through generations. Nearly lost, the film disappeared after the writer-director’s sudden, untimely death just months after the film’s New Orleans premiere. IndieCollect and the Academy Film Archive collaborated to restore this lost treasure, hailed as a “major rediscovery.” Written, directed, cast, crewed, and financed entirely by African Americans, Horace Jenkins’s classic now finds its rightful place in the canon. Scanned from a new 35mm print made by the Academy Film Archive. 1982/2018, 4K DCP, 105 min.
There will be a postscreening conversation both evenings with Tommye Myrick, lead actress, and Sandra Schulberg, founder of the Independent Feature Project, head of IndieCollect, and leader of the film’s restoration team.
Part of Lost Films & Restorations, a summer film series that celebrates gems of American independent cinema with five recent film restorations. Experience superior sound and image revived from the original formats—recently rediscovered, rescued from obscurity, or lovingly remastered by the directors themselves.
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