The Czar of Black Hollywood is a 2014 documentary film by Bayer Mack that chronicles the early life and career of African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Mack conceived of and produced the film about Micheaux using Library of Congress archived footage, photos, illustrations and vintage music. The documentary, which is the first devoted exclusively to Oscar Micheaux's life, is narrated by William Bell, features an original score by Nicholas Jones and art direction by Julie Anderson.
Synopsis
Oscar Micheaux was America's preeminent black filmmaker for three decades, having directed or produced 22 silent movies and 15 talking pictures. The Czar of Black Hollywood chronicles the real life experiences that inspired Micheaux's films, including the production of the first feature-length film, The Homesteader , and sound motion picture, The Exile , by an African-American.
Development
In an April 2014 interview with The Washington Times, Block Starz Music founder Bayer L. Mack said that he read the 2007 biography Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only by Patrick McGilligan and was inspired to produce Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood because Micheaux's life mirrored his own. In an interview with The News and Advance Mack said he “scoured the archives of all the great major black weeklies,” for information and imagery to recreate Micheaux’s world, saying the documentary film was a "restoration project".
Release
On February 13, 2014, Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood was announced by American radio host Tom Joyner on his nationally syndicated program, The Tom Joyner Morning Show, as part of its "Little Known Black History Fact" on Micheaux. In a June 2014 interview with The Huffington Post, Mack said he was shocked there "was virtually nothing out there about Micheaux's life" in spite of his historical significance. A screening of Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood was held at the Boca Black Film Festival on July 17 in Boca Raton, Florida. In a lead up to the event, the film's executive producer, Frances Presley Rice, told Florida's Sun Sentinel that Micheaux was the first "indie movie producer." Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood had a special screening on September 26, 2014 at the 99th Annual Association for the Study of African American Life and History Convention in Memphis, TN and its first public screening on October 17, 2014 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Reception
The documentary has been critically acclaimed and remains popular with fans of African-American cinema and film history. It is often screened along with one of Oscar Micheaux's films and is also regularly shown on public television.
Home Media
The Czar of Black Hollywood was released on DVD in the U.S. and Canada on December 24, 2014 and is available for streaming.
