Cinema / Film

Lost Boundaries (12)

Silk Street, London

Wed 4 Nov · 18:20

Alfred L. Werker · 99m · Film

About this event

This 1949 American drama looks at how 'liberal ideals' presented on screen back then; in which the groundbreaking filmmaker William Greaves stars as a young college graduate. Part of an ever-growing series of liberal American films that attempted to tackle the "race problem," Lost Boundaries centred around a young African American family who ‘pass’ as white, as they attempt to build a life for themselves in a white society, knowing that their idyllic existence would be threatened were their racial identity was exposed. In his time as a performer, William Greaves often portrayed a sophisticated, well-to-do character, in films that ranged from stereotyping Black characters, to films like Lost Boundaries that aimed to be more progressive. Today, the film stands as a sincere but flawed melodrama; an important document of Hollywood cinema and the sparsity of roles available to Black actors, which just three years later would prompt Greaves to leave the USA to Canada and learn how to make his own films. Please note this film contains use of racially insensitive language.