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Madeline Anderson Films

Director in Person
Recently Restored
Free Admission

A pioneering filmmaker and producer during a challenging era in American history for both women and people of color, Madeline Anderson confronted astounding obstacles within both the film industry and society at large. However, she remained undeterred and proceeded to make a series of powerful and timeless documentaries. Shot by the Maysles brothers and Richard Leacock, Integration Report 1 features haunting singing by a young Maya Angelou and captures the marches, sit-ins, rallies and boycotts in the months leading up to the first attempt at a march on Washington. A Tribute to Malcolm X, made for Black Journal, discusses the influence of the famous activist and includes an interview with his widow, Betty Shabazz. Anderson’s most critically lauded film, I Am Somebody, documents the struggle of 400 black hospital workers in Charleston, South Carolina, who went on strike demanding a fair wage increase. The film has the distinction of being the first half-hour documentary directed by an African American, unionized, female director.  “I was determined to do what I was going to do at any cost. I kept plugging away. Whatever I had to do, I did it,” Anderson has said of her career. The Harvard Film Archive proudly presents the pioneering work of Madeline Anderson with the filmmaker in attendance to discuss her documentaries and the turbulent atmosphere in which these important films were created.

Co-presented by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, Harvard.

Madeline Anderson films introduction and post-screening discussion with Jeremy Rossen and Madeline Anderson. ©Harvard Film Archive

PROGRAM

  • Integration Report 1

    Directed by Madeline Anderson.
    US, 1960, 16mm, black & white, 20 min.
    Print source: National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • A Tribute to Malcolm X

    Directed by Madeline Anderson.
    US, 1967, DCP, color, 13 min.
    DCP source: National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • I Am Somebody

    Directed by Madeline Anderson.
    US, 1970, 16mm, color, 30 min.
    Print source: Reserve Film and Video Collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

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