FILM IN FOCUS: Within Our Gates
FILM IN FOCUS: Within Our Gates
A dramatic flashback within Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates (1920) shows the history of violence against African Americans in a powerful antidote to the distortions of D.W. Griffith’s much more famous The Birth of a Nation (1915). Sylvia Landry (Evelyn Preer) has escaped from the lynch mob that has killed her uncle and aunt only to be threatened with sexual violence. Micheaux’s film uses melodrama as effectively as Griffith’s—Sylvia will be spared.
Discussion Questions
After watching this clip from Within Our Gates, consider the questions below. Then submit your response.
1.
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