The Blood of Jesus – At the South Dallas Cultural Center

Spencer Williams was one of the most important African-American filmmakers of the 1940s, producing dramas with all-black casts that found a ready audience in all-black movie houses. THE BLOOD OF JESUS was filmed near Dallas on a budget of only $5000. The film uses both ethereal gospel music and down-and-dirty blues on the soundtrack in an effective metaphor for the film’s battle of sacred and profane influences.

Legendary film historian & filmmaker Thom Andersen recently notated that Williams‘s films brought out “the dignity of black life and the creation of dynamic culture in the segregated society in small-town north Texas”.

This screening will take place within the Black Cinematheque within the South Dallas Cultural Center.