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Six Early Films, 1900–1929
Sat, Nov 12 | 2pm | TMT
For much of the history of Hollywood filmmaking, movies often portrayed Chinese as the “other” in a “them vs. us” hierarchy. Early movies, in particular, exploited this dichotomy, illustrated by the now-absurd—but no less damning— examples in this program. Yet, this era also saw productions from pioneering Chinese American filmmakers who aspired to elevate onscreen representations of themselves.
Massacre of the Christians by the Chinese
Produced by one of early cinema’s most pro- lific studio heads, Siegmund Lubin, Massacre of the Christians by the Chinese re-enacts fictionalized scenes from the Boxer Rebellion in China. Within a 30-second running time, this film flames fears of barbaric Chinese inciting the destruction of Western civiliza- tion. Laughable today, this writer wonders if a 1900s-era audience, watching movies for the first time, may have been shaken by the scenes of decapitation.
DIRECTOR: Unknown.
1900. 30 sec. USA. B&W. Silent. Digital.
The Heathen Chinese and the Sunday School Teachers
The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, an influential and respected studio during the silent era, produced this short where Chinese laundrymen and church mem- bers share cultural traditions: Bible studies and opium smoking. The film illustrates the immoral consequences that innocent white women would suffer under the lure of “inscru- table” Chinese men—all this in three minutes.
DIRECTOR: Unknown.
1904. 3 min. USA. B&W. Silent. Digital.
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