Much has been written about the renaissance in Hollywood Cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The fact that this is often portrayed as a moment when a younger generation got its chance to enter the mainstream has meant that the contribution of a previous generation of Hollywood voices, those blacklisted in the 1940s and 1950s in particular, has been overlooked.

In fact, the 1960s saw the return to the mainstream of a number of film professionals who had been blacklisted in the anti-communist drive within the Hollywood film industry in the late 1940s and 1950s. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, when America was experiencing social and political upheaval - the fight for civil rights and the anti-war movements - these filmmakers once persecuted for their progressive politics were now more in tune with the times. As a result, they found fresh collaborators in the new American cinema of the period.

This strand invites audiences to re-think the contribution of Hollywood’s blacklistees to American cinema in the late 1960s and 1970s. Far from being a spent creative force as they are often represented, these films show that formerly blacklisted directors, actors and screenwriters made a vital contribution to the re-invigorating of cinema in one of American film’s most creative eras.

This strand has been curated by Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and Senior Visiting Curator at HOME in Manchester Andy Willis.

After its launch at Cinema Rediscovered, this strand tours to venues across the UK with the support of BFI awarding funds from National Lottery.

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