AMERICA a film by GARRETT BRADLEY

AMERICAa film byGARRETT BRADLEY. 2019, USA. 29 min. From the singular director ofTime, a sweeping, imagined archive of Black American cinema. Americabegins with footage from Bert Williamss fairgroundset 1913 filmLime Kiln Club Field Day, radical in its day for its allBlack cast. While researching the film, Bradley learned that 70 percent of all films made between 1912 and 1929 were likely lost forever during the transition to the sound era. What if this lost body of work were equally progressive she wondered, speaking withArtforum. Through vignettes set between 1915 and 1926, Americaconjures this evaporated archive of Black American history, from landmark triumphsone scene highlights pioneering international pilot Bessie Colemanto everyday scenes, which amend contemporary narratives in which Black presence has been muffled.