This Belcourt 100 seminar reveals a century of filmmaking shaped by Black Nashvillians, examining the actors, directors, writers, exhibitors and theaters that fostered Black cinema culture during and after Jim Crow segregation — and traces how Nashville’s Black creatives used the moving image to reflect lived experience and shape cultural identity, positioning Music City as an overlooked center of African American cinema. Includes a screening of STORMY WEATHER immediately following at 8:00pm.
Ossie Davis’s 1970 action-comedy follows Harlem detectives Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson as they unravel a con involving stolen charity funds and a crooked Back-to-Africa scheme. Featuring Redd Foxx and Nashville-born actress Helen Martin, the film blends satire and social critique, marking a turning point in Black independent cinema.
