National Archives Microfilm Publication M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the Franklin Road
Plot: This film by Kara Walker takes its title and narrative from documents in the Freedman Bureau’s archive and uses her trademark cut-paper silhouettes to animate the disturbing story of an African American family. Controlled by the sticks and strings of their human operators, including the artist herself, the figures moving within a shadow puppet-like theater space remind us of the manipulation of historical oppression and the powerlessness of the oppressed while also emphasizing the theatricality of the film itself
Release Date:
Thursday, January 1 2009
16 years ago
16 years ago