The Luminal Theater

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The Luminal Theater

Bringing Black cinema to Black communities and beyond empowering the community through Black cinema

11/04/2026

Many don’t believe or understand the transformative power of film & media, but as you can see from this clip, the 1915 film smash “The Birth of Nation” magnified how racist white supremacist ideologies feed into unfounded paranoia. This notorious scene here, depicting their interpretation of the 1870 South Carolina State House of Representatives, with senators eating fried chicken, imbibing, and picking at their toes, racist as it is, is at least one not showing violence inflicted against Blacks in the film, but sets up one of their reasons for it.

FYI, the Red Summer of 1919 followed this film’s uber-popularity.

For our October Luminal Theater Film Club, “The Birth of a Nation”. A so-called landmark achievement of filmmaking that undeniably demonstrates the deep roots of America's racist history, D.W. Griffith’s direction combines battle scenes and romance with a viciously bigoted portrayal of Black Americans.

Upon its release, it was the biggest feature-length blockbuster yet to be produced in the United States, and the first to be shown in the White House. After seeing the film, President Woodrow Wilson, a known racist even by the standards of his time, declared it was "like writing history with lightning!" In cities and states across the country, the film energized the NAACP, which fought to have the film banned, or at least the most gruesome scenes censored.

The film also inspired Black folks to move into filmmaking as a way to offer alternative images and stories, which we’ll explore in next month’s selection.

Watch “The Birth of a Nation” before we meet! The film is available to stream for free (‘cause we would NOT ask you to pay to watch this) via C-SPAN and Archive.org with full and censored versions.
C-SPAN: Part 1 & Part 2
Archive.org: full uncensored; full censored

We’ll meet on Sunday, November 8th at 4PM to discuss at http://www.luminaltheater.org/film-club-2

10/29/2026

This Halloween, check out us at VillainSCon 2026 as part of BLACK VAMPIRES IN COMICS AND POPULAR CULTURE. Dr. Ebony Toussaint (), owner of Hellcat Comics, is joined by Curtis Caesar John, Black Cinema Guru and Executive Director of The Luminal Theater, and Dr. Napoleon Wells, author - psychologist - professor - storyteller, for a fascinating discussion of Black vampires in pop culture.

📍 WHERE: THE FOUNDRY, BEAUFORT SC
🕐 WHEN: OCTOBER 31ST 12:20PM
⁉️ HOW: Tickets at https://www.villainsconbeaufort.org/tickets

10/29/2026

10/28/2026

For our October Luminal Theater Film Club, we’ll be watching a problematic film.

Almost a century after its release, “The Birth of a Nation” remains one of the most controversial films ever made. A so-called landmark achievement of filmmaking that undeniably demonstrates the deep roots of America's racist history, D.W. Griffith’s direction combines battle scenes and romance with a viciously bigoted portrayal of African-Americans.

Upon its release, it was the biggest feature-length blockbuster yet to be produced in the United States, and the first to be shown in the White House. After seeing the film, President Woodrow Wilson, who was known for being extremely racist even by the standards of his time, declared it was "like writing history with lightning!"

In cities and states across the country, the film energized the NAACP, which fought to have the film banned, or at least the most gruesome scenes censored.

The film also inspired African Americans to move into filmmaking as a way to offer alternative images and stories, which we’ll explore in next month’s selection.

Watch “The Birth of a Nation” before we meet.

It's available to stream for free (‘cause we would NOT ask you to pay to watch this) via C-SPAN and Archive.org with full and censored versions.
https://www.c-span.org/program/american-history-tv/the-birth-of-a-nation-part-1/387543
https://www.c-span.org/program/american-history-tv/the-birth-of-a-nation-part-2/387545
https://archive.org/details/TheBirthOfANation19151080p

We’ll meet on Sunday, November 8th at 4PM to discuss at http://www.luminaltheater.org/film-club-2

10/27/2026

If you’re a Black cinephile, you probably know actor Duane Jones best from “Ganja & Hess” or “Losing Ground”. If you’re a horror fan, it's “Night of the Living Dead”. Either way, he was undeniably an enigmatic dude.

Not that Jones was calculated and distant. No, he was cool in that classically Black folks way of being cool — and his distinguished life and career as an actor, lover of drama, and educator contains many lessons for us all.

Read our classic blog entry “The Mysterious Duane Jones” by contributor Dennis Leroy Kangalee, as he reflects on Duane Jones’ career and contemplates on how he would have fared in modern Hollywood.

READ:
www.luminaltheater.org/wavelengths/2024/10/30/the-mysterious-duane-jones

10/15/2026

Day 2 of the the Oct '26 ed. of is today and kicks off with a short film by up & coming filmmaker Laïssa Alexis' "Panyen Banbou" (BAMBOO BASKET).

Laïssa (she/her) is a Haitian-born, New Jersey-based artist and filmmaker. Her film "To Build a Monument", a documentary about ancestorhood and ways of honoring the dead, premiered at the 2024 Newark LGBTQ Film Festival. Laïssa enjoys daydreaming about the future and hopes to use cinema to articulate these dreams.

See ' "Panyen Banbou" tonight before Samuel Suffren dynamic trilogy "Les Vagues dans les yeux" (Waves in the Eyes)

Tix at BAM.org

10/14/2026

Starting TONIGHT! Back at BAM on October 14th and 15th for The Caribbean Film Series, a program by Third Horizon, The Luminal Theater, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Join us for a provoking program spotlighting the migratory undercurrents of Cuba and Haiti in the pursuit of dreams.

This edition is presented in partnership with Cinema Tropical ( Cinema Tropical )and Haiti Cultural Exchange ( Haiti Cultural Exchange ).

October 14th | 7:00PM

🔸ÁNGELA | Juan Pablo Daranas Molina | United States | 2018 | 12 Minutes | Spanish with English subtitles

🔸CALLE CUBA | Vanessa Batista | Cuba, Chile, Mexico | 2026 | 93 Minutes | Spanish with English subtitles

🎬 Q&A with Filmmakers:
Tag: Vanessa Batista

📆 October 14, 2026 at 7PM ET
📍 BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY
🔗 Link in bio to RSVP

10/13/2026

Meet filmmaker Vanessa Batista this Wed. Oct. 14 at 7pm as her poignant documentary CALLE CUBA kicks off our Oct. ‘26 edition of the Caribbean Film Series in Brooklyn. Tix still available at BAM.org

Vanessa Batista is a filmmaker trained in playwriting at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Cuba and in film directing at the Escola de Mitjans Audiovisuals in Barcelona. Her award-winning short films Ellas (2012) and Lula (2013) screened internationally. Her feature documentary Los que se quedaron (2015) received multiple awards, screened across Latin America, Europe, and Canada, and was broadcast on TV3 and Cuban television. She also co-directed Barcelonnabis (2015). Calle Cuba (2026) is her most recent work.

Opening the night is Juan Pablo Daranas Molina’s ÁNGELA (2018) one of our fav short films of the past few years on Cuban expatriate life.

Thank you again to Cinema Tropical for being our co-presenter for CALLE CUBA.

10/09/2026

Les Vagues dans les yeux (WAVES IN THE EYES) director Samuel Suffren will be with us in person for our post-screening Q&A on Oct. 15th at the Caribbean Film Series. Suffren is joined by fellow Haitian filmmaker Laïssa Alexis, whose film BAMBOO BASKET opens up our night of great cinema. The Q&A will be moderated by Regine Roumain of our presenting partner Haiti Cultural Exchange.

A Haitian director and producer, Samuel Suffren has made a trilogy of short films inspired by the story of his father. The first film, Agwe, was selected at Locarno and won the Best Diaspora Film at FESPACO. Dreams Like Paper Boats is the second film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and showed at our October 2024 shorts program. Blue Heart is the final part, and it also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Samuel is currently working on his first feature documentary, Lòtbò, and is also developing a feature fiction film, Je m'appelle Nina Shakira.

Tix at our link and at https://www.bam.org/film/2026/caribbean-film-series2

09/30/2026

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Blythewood, SC
29016

Website

http://www.luminaltheater.org/

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