Restored by Anthology Film Archives with funding provided by   The Cry of Jazz (Edward Bland, 1959) kthb Productions (Mark Kennedy, Nelam Hill, Eugene Titus, and Edward Bland) 34 min. 16mm, blown up to 35mm for the 2010 restoration Introduced by Edward Bland and Jonas Mekas An essay film (among other things) about jazz in African American culture, The Cry of Jazz is an essential cinematic meditation on the form. Although it has rarely screened, its place in the history of the medium was solidified when Film Culture editor Jonas Mekas hired the director, Edward Bland, to write a piece about the inspiration for the film containing still-pertient ideas about capturing African American experiences in cinema. Additionally, when Film Culture published "First Statement of the New American Cinema Group" in 1960, Bland was cited as part of a "new generation" of filmmakers and signed the manifesto along with many other independent artists. Anthology Film Archives has preserved the film, with sound restoration by Universal Studios' BluWave Audio, lab work by Colorlab, advocacy from the Orphan Film Symposium, consultation with Ed Bland. Andy Uhrich (NYU MIAP) also researched and helped write a Film Foundation grant during his summer 2009 Anthology internship. He knew the film from screening it at Chicago Film Archives, where he worked before entering graduate school.  The screening of the restoration will be followed by remarks from the director himself, along with scholars Jacqueline Stewart (Northwestern University) and Anna McCarthy (NYU). Further Reading "The First Statement of the New American Cinema Group," Film Culture 22-23 (Summer 1961): 131-33. Reprinted in Film Culture Reader, ed. P. Adams Sitney (Praeger, 1970), 81-82. Also posted on the Film-Makers' Cooperative website (where the statement is dated 1962[?]), www.film-makerscoop.com/history.htm. Edward Bland, "Philosophical Basis for 'The Cry of Jazz,'" Film Culture 21 (Summer 1960). Text posted on GGdaddyBland, Jan. 30, 2010, http://ggdaddybland.blogspot.com/2010/01/cry-of-jazz-revisited.html. Richard Brody, "The Cry of Jazz" review, New Yorker, Jan. 11, 2010. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/events/revivals/2010/01/11/100111gomo_GOAT_movies?currentPage=2 Anna McCarthy, "Screen Culture and Group Discussion in Postwar Race Relations," in Learning with the Lights Off: A Reader in Educational Film, ed. Marsha Orgeron, Devin Orgeron, and Dan Streible (Oxford University Press, forthcoming). Andy Uhrich's report on the pre-restoration screening of The Cry of Jazz at the Maysles Cinema in Harlem, January 7, 2010, http://orphanfilmsymposium.blogspot.com/2010/01/fwd-cry-of-jazz-screening.html. -----------------------------------------------------------  Bryce Renninger, "Orphan Films: Mining Lost Movies in NYC," Indiewire, Apr. 12, 2010. Eric Kohn, "Essential Orphanistas: Jonas Mekas," Screen Rush, Apr. 12, 2010. photos: Anoosh Tertzakian Below watch an excerpt of Jonas Mekas' introduction of the film at the 7th Orphan Film Symposium Cry of Jazz is available to watch online, below you can find the first part of the film: |