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A Guide to related holdings at the Black Film Center/Archive

Finding aid prepared by Mary Huelsbeck/Stacey Doyle

Summary Information

Repository
Black Film Center/Archive
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library, Room 044
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-6041
Fax: 812-856-5832
Email: bfca@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/~bfca

Creator
Black Film Center/Archive

Title
In Touch with the Spirit Collection, 1989-1994

Collection No.
Special Collection ITS

Extent
3 boxes

Language
Materials are in English

Abstract
Papers and related material documenting the In Touch with the Spirit conference, held on July 9-12, 1992 in Indianapolis, IN.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Biographical Note

In Touch with the Spirit: Black Religious and Musical Expression in American Cinema was a BFC/A conference held on July 9-12, 1992 in Indianapolis, IN. The conference took place in conjunction with the Indiana Black Expo (IBE) and was integrated into IBE on-site activities located at the Indianapolis Convention Center. Events consisted of lectures, panel discussions, and film screenings. The keynote lecture was presented by Donald Bogle. Films screened include Sarafina! (1992) (premiere screening), Let the Church Say Amen! (1972), Cabin in the Sky (1943), Say Amen, Somebody (1982), Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (1992), Blood of Jesus (1941), House Party (1990), Praise House (1991), and Bahia: Africa in the Americas (1988).

Panel discussions were divided into six sessions: Role of Religion in the Community--History and Images, Ethnographic Filmmaking and Black Religious Music in Context, The Sacred/Secular Dilemma in Black Music and Film, Documentary Filmmaker's Panel--Aesthetics and Filmmaking, Black Musical Expression: Contemporary Hollywood and Independent Film, and The Power of the Spirit: Politics, Film, and Oppression.

In Touch with the Spirit: Black Religious and Musical Expression in American Cinema was organized to examine the image and address the impact of black religious and musical expression as depicted in American cinema. Holding the conference at the Indiana Black Expo, "the largest and most progressive African American celebration" in the United States, allowed the non-academic community to observe and participate in an in-depth conversation on the topic. Over 1,000 people attended In Touch with the Spirit to see prominent scholars and filmmakers explore how the film industry impacts perceptions of trends, groups, and individuals.

Scope and Content Note

The collection is divided into four series: Conference Materials, Correspondence, materials related to the monograph In Touch with the Spirit: Black Religious and Musical Expression in American Cinema , and Publicity materials.

Conference Materials contain general materials related to the planning and execution of the conference itself. It includes an evaluation report compiled from forms taken at the conference. Correspondence is divided topically. It contains solicitation letters and grant proposals from the BFC/A to funders, acceptance letters, calls for papers, presentation abstracts, and other correspondence. The Monograph series includes a copy of the monograph itself, as well as papers detailing it's creation. Publicity consists of clippings or photocopies of clippings as they appeared in journals, newspapers and other serial publications.

Administrative Information

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• African American actors
• African American motion picture producers and directors
• African Americans--Music
• African Americans--Religion

Collection Inventory

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