Herskovits at the Heart of Blackness

About The Film

Anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits is often credited with inventing the field of African studies in the 1920s through the 1950s. This quick-paced, innovative film considers the controversial legacy of this towering Jewish scholar and his groundbreaking research, conducted in an era when Jews and blacks were unwelcome either as academics or subjects of dignified study. Brilliant, high-minded and ambitious, Herskovits raises important questions, most notably: who has the authority to define a culture? Blending rare archival footage, interviews with leading scholars and original animation, HERSKOVITS AT THE HEART OF BLACKNESS retraces a tidal shift in the image (and self-image) of blacks in America, and the shared African-American and Jewish experiences of exile and political oppression. Awarded Best Documentary at the 2009 Hollywood Black Film Festival.