William Greaves Shorts

This program of three short films from early in Greaves’s career show the range of his interests, opportunities, and commissions. A treasure of Black history and a breakthrough in Greaves’s work The First World Festival of Negro Arts (1966) is the official documentary film of the festival, which was held in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966. This gathering of writers, artists, and performers from Africa and the African Diaspora features on-screen appearances by Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes, Alvin Ailey, Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and many others. Wealth of a Nation (1964) sees Greaves working for a US state-sponsored institution. The film is a portrait of freedom and the importance of self-expression in America and covers a lot in its 20 minutes, including a portrait of sculptor Lee Bontecou and a live performance by trumpeter Bill Dixon. Unable to get filmmaking jobs in the US, Greaves started his career at Canada’s National Film Board, and Emergency Ward (1958) is the finest of the films he created during that time. A precursor to The Pitt, the film was shot at Montreal General Hospital, and its stylistic tensions announce Greaves’s arrival as a filmmaker. (program approx. 91 mins., DCP)

See the entire Retrospective: William Greaves lineup.

IMAGE CAPTION
Left to right: The First World Festival of Negro Arts, Wealth of a Nation, courtesy of Janus Films. Emergency Ward, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada.