Pioneering black filmmaker visits Duke

His may not be a household name, but William Greaves has left an indelible mark on the world of documentary filmmaking. With a career spanning nearly 40 years, Greaves has produced more than over 200 documentaries focusing on the African-American experience.

This past week, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, in conjunction with the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, brought Greaves to the Nasher Museum of Art for screenings and discussion of three of his landmark films, including his seminal 1968 documentary Still a Brother: Inside the Black Middle Class.

Initially a stage actor and a student of African history, Greaves said he veered into the world of directing in the late 1960s after becoming disillusioned with the prevalence of dramatic roles that made African Americans look foolish.

"You look at the media. and everything is directed toward propagating the notion that these were very dumb, stupid people that weren't to be respected in any way-so that began to infuriate me," he said, "I thought about these ancient African civilizations.. These were civilizations that had much to commend, and I decided that I would definitely become involved in some kind of filmmaking that would counter these propaganda issues that were being propagated."

Greaves said this frustration and desire to broaden common perceptions of the African-American community fueled him to take a closer look at class divisions within the community itself, as well as how these divisions influenced its members in their quest for greater social equality.

In particular, the films screened at Nasher highlighted both the early disparities between middle class and "underclass" African-Americans' strategies for obtaining equality, as well as the more cohesive approach developed in the seventies and eighties.

Throughout his experience of recording black history, the concept of black power has shifted considerably, Greaves said. He suggested that achieving greater social equality in the latter half of the 20th century has eased some of the tension associated with black power initiatives. "I think people have become accustomed to it and are quite willing to live with it as a political or social issue," he said. "At one point, people used to be very intimidated, particularly white people, but I think white people have learned to live with that concept because there is also white power operating concurrently."

Greaves' pioneering take on documenting African Americans' struggle for equality-unique in its emphasis on class issues and behind-the-scenes "movers and shakers"-has made his work especially appealing for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival which takes place in Durham every April.