NSU Professor Discusses ‘Birth of Black Cinema’ at Local Library

Andrea Shaw, M.F.A., Ph.D., associate professor and assistant director of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Humanities, provided insight about “Oscar Micheaux and the Birth of Black Cinema” during a talk on Mar. 31. Shaw spoke at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale as part of the library’s Scholar Series in a yearlong tribute to its “Fabulous Forties on the Avenue” exhibit.

In connection with the exhibit, which recreated the landscape of Fort Lauderdale’s black communities in the 1940s, Shaw’s talk focused on the era’s burgeoning black business of cinema. “Race movies,” films created for a black audience and often by black filmmakers, became popular during this time. Although Micheaux was not the first black filmmaker, he’s considered the father of black cinema and the most prolific filmmaker in the genre. Speaking as a local expert on the topic, Shaw provided insight into Micheaux’s noted career and discussed the emergence and later demise of race movies.

At NSU, Shaw teaches a variety of writing courses in composition and creative writing, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. In addition to film studies and writing, her areas of academic focus include African Diaspora studies, cultural studies, and literary studies.