Within Our Gates

With EVELYN PREER, CHARLES D. LUCAS. Produced, written and directed by OSCAR MICHEAUX. The earliest surviving feature film directed by an American Negro. A landmark effort, using a mixed race cast, the film was released only a few years after "The Birth Of A Nation." While it could be considered "the other side of the coin," it is in no way comparable in budget or production values. In terms of a message, the story of a young black woman trying to finance a school for blacks in the South, by trying to get money in the North, was just as shocking today as it was when first released. The depiction of lynchings and the rape of black women by white men is particularly startling. (official distributor synopsis)