The Black Film Center/Archive: Thirty Years of Archival and Educational Progress

A major milestone, the thirtieth anniversary of the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University Bloomington provides an ideal opportunity to reflect upon its mission as a repository of films and related materials by and about African Americans and the people of Africa and the African diaspora. It is a moment to remember the organization's origins, its major achievements and programs, and the vision for the organization's future.

The BFC/A was founded in 1981 by Professor Phyllis R. Klotman, who directed the archive for eighteen years and is professor emerita of the Department of Afro-American Studies—now the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS)—and Film Studies. During the 1970s, it became apparent that films by and about African Americans from 1895 to the present were rapidly disappearing due to technical indifference to preservation, lack of established outlets for the films, and inadequate teaching resources.

At the same time, important films by black independent filmmakers offering an alternative to Hollywood's view of black culture were similarly threatened by obscurity and neglect. Klotman and others believed that the promotion of black films as a genre worthy of serious intellectual consideration, coupled with the introduction of black films to all ethnic groups, would help to reverse the trend of severe neglect.

In pursuit of her vision to provide a space for the study, collection, and preservation of black film, Klotman joined forces with Portia K. Maultsby, then the Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies and currently the Director of the Archives of African American Music and Culture, to establish the BFC/A at Indiana University.

During Klotman's tenure, the BFC/A began an outreach program; created workshops and film festivals for independent black filmmakers such as Kathleen Collins, Bill Gunn, Warrington Hudlin, and Carl Weathers; collaborated with the Black Expo and Madame Walker Urban Life Center in Indianapolis; created a foundational collection for the Archive; and started the BFC/A newsletter which eventually became the academic journal, Black Camera.

In addition to these accomplishments, Klotman also wrote Frame by Frame, volumes one and two, which gave credit to African Americans who contributed their talents to a film industry that has scarcely recognized their contributions and acknowledged those independents who have set their own course in direct opposition to Hollywood. The publications did not judge the value of the offerings, but strove to present the totality of African Americans' contributions in film.

Klotman brought in two assistant directors to help her with the immense amount of work involved in establishing the BFC/A: Gloria Gibson, who is now the Provost and Executive Vice President at the University of Northern Iowa, and Mary Frances Stubbs, who is now Director of Development for the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Science at Howard University.

Additionally, Klotman worked alongside professors John McCluskey and Fred McElroy in developing AAADS's master's program. She served as Dean of Women's Affairs at Indiana University from 1986 to 1993, where one of her greatest achievements was ensuring that women could ride bicycles, rather than tricycles, in the annual Little 500 bicycle race. Klotman instituted numerous procedures to improve women's safety on campus, too. Plus, she served as Director of Indiana University's Affirmative Action Office from 1974 to 1979.

In 1999, Klotman retired, stepping down as director. In the shift from founding director to new leadership, Professor Audrey T. McCluskey became the interim Director of the BFC/A, eventually taking on the role of Director in 2001. Her first major project during her inaugural year was coordinating an international film festival entitled Films of the African Diaspora: Bridging Cultures through Film. The festival featured works by Ethiopian director Haile Gerima, a member of the LA Rebellion and now professor at Howard University.

McCluskey then arranged an artist-in-residence program that brought Melvin Van Peebles and Salem Mekuria to Indiana University. She also made possible a series of film festivals, retrospectives, and special screenings on the Indiana University campus that often had a community outreach component, including children...