Film Historian Preaches Importance of Preservation
Jacqueline Stewart had an idea.
While studying “orphan films”—amateur or unfinished films without a copyright— with fellow film scholars, the professor and film historian wondered if there were any such films made by Black people on the South Side of Chicago where she was born and raised.
She put out a call for submissions, gathered and digitized the films, then interviewed the families who donated them. The result was an impressive archive that told a fuller, richer story of her community.
“It felt like fresh territory because the South Side had not been portrayed in a way that captured the beauty and resilience of its people,” said Stewart, now an author, archivist, television host, and professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. “Not only did a wealth of study come from the project but our collection gave us a sense of pride because it built a case for Black humanity.”
Thus, the South Side Home Movie Project was born.
Though Stewart is now planning the 20-year anniversary celebration of the project, she has not stopped pursuing the past to understand the future.
Stewart joined School of Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson in the Ethel M. Barber Theater on November 13 for the first Dialogue with the Dean event of the 2024-25 academic year. Stewart, who is also chair of the National Film Preservation Board (NFPB), discussed her career, film history, and the importance of preservation.
Her earliest film memory was riding the bus with her grandmother to see movies like the 1969 comedy The Love Bug, but ultimately it was her Aunt Constance’s more niche interests that ignited her passion for film.
“My aunt loved silent movies and when we’d watch them together her appreciation of the films inspired me,” Stewart said. “That’s why, if we value something, it’s important to bring young people along with us so they can make up their minds about it.”
The 1986 debut of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It inspired Stewart’s study too.
“There had never been a voice or artistic presence like Spike Lee, and I was struck by the different sensibility he brought to film,” Stewart explained. “As an undergrad, I wrestled with how to admire what he was doing while managing the questions, and sometimes visceral reactions, I had to his work.
“That’s when I found out people wrote about movies in the same way they wrote about novels and the world of film studies opened to me.”
Stewart wrote her undergrad thesis on the film and, post-graduation, went on to study how films are made, the Black movie-going experience, and the role movies play in social movements. This research would later contribute to her book Migrating to the Movies: Cinema and Black Urban Modernity.
Johnson reminded the audience that Stewart taught at Northwestern as an associate professor in the Departments of Radio/Television/Film and African American Studies (now Black Studies), even sharing a photo of her with colleagues from the Black Arts Initiative (now the Black Arts Consortium), which he founded in 2012.
But it was during the summer of 2020 while at the University of Chicago that Stewart was asked by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to become the museum’s first chief artistic and programming officer and later its president.
“It was an incredibly rewarding experience because I was able to bring my interests to work and share with the world what goes into filmmaking,” Stewart said.
Her favorite exhibit was Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898–1971, a display that honored the culture and legacy of Black filmmakers and actors that included a beautiful catalog of artifacts from that era. “It meant a lot that people learned about this history in such a powerful way.”
It’s also why Stewart emphasizes the importance of filmmakers and audiences knowing their history. She finds that her television show hosting duties with Turner Classic Media (yet another professional hat she wears) help her disseminate knowledge.
“I see Silent Sunday Nights as an opportunity to expand how folks engage with film,” she said, “because I know there are people who have never seen silent films that are watching now because of me.”
As the interview wound down, Stewart shared how hosting also allows her to add historical context to films with storied pasts when answering a question during the post talk Q&A about the renewed interest in erasing and whitewashing history, especially as the next U.S. presidential administration takes office.
“I think it’s a real threat. We’ve already seen the removal of films and literature from public media to try and not create a ‘negative narrative’ of America, but it’s important to understand the mechanics of these films,” said Stewart, citing titles like the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind and the 1915 blockbuster white supremacist film, The Birth of a Nation. “Future preservationists and scholars will need to defend our history and use film as a space of dialogue across difference.”
“To not show The Birth of a Nation because it is virulently racist has negative consequences and ultimately doesn’t hold those who made it responsible,” Stewart said.
“Besides, if you get rid of Gone with the Wind then the world will never see the incredible performance of Hattie McDaniel, our first Black Oscar winner.”
Dialogue with the Dean is a series of conversations with emerging and established communicators who are advancing the futures of their fields, challenging paradigms, and promoting social justice. The next event will occur this winter.