Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Sign Up

Free Event

New York Eye and Ear Control (1964, dir. Michael Snow, 34 min.)

The waves and the sand on a beach are covering a cutout of a woman's silhouette while a free jazz background music is heard. The same jazz musicians will pose later for the camera in a studio or in the streets of New York.

Blood of Jesus (1941, dir. Spencer Williams, 57 min.)

American race film written by, directed by, and starring Spencer Williams.

It was also released under the alternate title of "The Glory Road." "The Blood of Jesus" was the second film directed by Spencer Williams, who was one of the few African American directors of the 1940s. "The Blood of Jesus" was produced in Texas on a budget of US$5,000. To present the afterlife,Williams used scenes from a 1911 Italian film called L’Inferno that depicted souls entering Heaven.

In addition to Williams, the cast was made up of amateur actors and members of Reverend R.L. Robinson’s Heavenly Choir, who sang the film’s gospel music score. "The Blood of Jesus" was screened in cinemas and in black churches. The film’s commercial success enabled Williams to direct and write additional feature films for Sack Amusement Enterprises, including two films with religious themes: "Brother Martin: Servant of Jesus" (1942) and "Go Down Death" (1944). For years, "The Blood of Jesus" was considered a lost film until prints were discovered in the mid-1980s in a warehouse in Tyler, Texas. Filmmaker Julie Dash cited the baptismal sequence in The Blood of Jesus as the inspiration for a similar scene from her 1991 feature film Daughters of the Dust. In 1991, "The Blood of Jesus" became the first race film to be added to the U.S. National Film Registry.

 

Entrance is through the new DMC Building on Huntington Ave. Enter through the glass doors, to get to the film area-turn left and go into the South Building, turn right into the East building and go down the 1/2 flight of stairs, through the hall, back up the next 1/2 flight, keep straight and Screening Room 1 will be on your left.

Suggested donation is $4 at the door and free to the MassArt community with their ID. Donations are used to give visiting artist something for their expenses of coming to show their work.

Event Details

0 people are interested in this event

User Activity

No recent activity