Q&A with film scholar Pearl Bowser, filmmaker Crystal Emery, filmmaker Sam Pollard, and Rafee Kamal of The Black Documentary Collective

Producing or directing more than 40 films in a 36-year career, St. Clair Bourne is inarguably the most prolific black documentarian of his time. Bourne authentically documented critical aspects of the black community—its culture, resistance, and activism—images of which would have been lost if not for his chronicling. If comparisons are necessary to understand the significance of Bourne’s work upon the broader landscape of independent film, think D.A. Pennebaker, the Maysles, and Jean Rouch. The films in this program find Bourne documenting black and Irish solidarity, representation in the Brooklyn Museum, and the options granted to high school students who want to attend college. St. Clair Bourne passed away at the age of 64; he would have been 73 this February. Something to Build On is screening courtesy of the Reserve Film and Video Collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

The Black and the Green
St. Clair Bourne, USA, 1983, digital projection, 45m

Something to Build On
St. Clair Bourne, USA, 1971, 16mm, 29m

Statues Hardly Ever Smile
Stan Lathan, USA, 1971, digital projection, 21m