Screening Series: "Toward a More Perfect Rebellion: Multiracial Student Activism at UCLA"

Event Date: 
Saturday, October 18, 2025 -
7:30pm to 10:00pm
Event Location: 
Billy Wilder Theater, UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024

This film series celebrates the radical legacy of UCLA’s Ethno-Communications Program (1969–1973), a pioneering affirmative action initiative launched by Elyseo Taylor, the School of Theater, Film and Television’s first Black faculty member. Designed to train Black, Asian American, Latina/o/x and Native American students to use film as a tool for social change, the program paired filmmaking with journalism, mass communications and community engagement. The alumni in this film program created works that redefined independent media in Los Angeles, offering expansive, socially engaged portraits of multiracial America.

By reflecting the city’s vibrant, interconnected arts communities — despite the logistical and political challenges of such crossings — this history reveals how these filmmakers forged a cinema that mirrored L.A.’s ethnic and cultural complexity. The Ethno-Communications filmmakers’ body of work remains an enduring vision of a “more perfect union,” and a model for multiracial, justice-driven media-making. The series is based on Toward a More Perfect Rebellion: Multiracial Media Activism Made in L.A. (University of California Press, 2025) by NYU Associate Professor of Cinema Studies and guest programmer Josslyn Luckett. 

Series programmed and notes written by NYU Associate Professor Josslyn Luckett and UCLA Film and Television Archive Public Programmer Beandrea July.

Organized by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Cosponsored by UCLA Center for EthnoCommunications in the Asian American Studies Center and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center.

Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event. 

For more information, visit: https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/toward-a-more-perfect-rebellion-2025

Saturday, October 18
In-person: 
 
Q&A with filmmakers Duane Kubo and Zeinabu irene Davis, moderated by NYU Cinema Studies Associate Professor Josslyn Luckett.
 
Four Women
U.S., 1975
Four Women transforms Nina Simone’s ballad into an experimental dance film that explores identity and survival. Dancer Linda Martina Young embodies Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Sweet Thing and Peaches, shifting costume and movement to reflect each archetype. Filmmaker Julie Dash’s editing mirrors Simone’s vocals, pausing moments of motion before dissolving into the next image. One of the first experimental films by a Black woman filmmaker, it fuses music, dance and cinema into a bold statement of Black feminist artistry.—Public Programmer Beandrea July
16mm, color, 10 min. Director: Julie Dash. With: Linda Martina Young.
Restored by Indie Collect in collaboration with the UCLA Film & Television Archive and Women Make Movies.
 
La Raza: “Celebration” 
U.S., 1974
“For la raza, we live to celebrate life,” declares host Ricardo Montalbán at the start of this episode, which captures the vibrancy of Mexican American celebrations and cultural traditions. Part of the six-episode McGraw Hill public affairs series La Raza that aired in 1974, it is directed by husband-and-wife UCLA Ethno-Communications alumni Moctesuma Esparza and Esperanza Vasquez. Blending Montalbán’s classic charm with intimate footage of community gatherings and dazzling musical performances, the episode foregrounds the richness of la vida and delivers an affirming portrait of a people too often overlooked or stereotyped on screen.—Public Programmer Beandrea July
DCP, color, 53 min. Directors: Moctesuma Esparza, Esperanza Vasquez. With: Ricardo Montalbán.
 
Cruisin’ J Town 
U.S., 1975
Directed by Duane Kubo, who earned a UCLA bachelor’s degree in astronomy and astrophysics in 1974, this short documentary explores the roots of the popular jazz fusion band Hiroshima in Los Angeles’ pre-redevelopment Little Tokyo. The group members discuss the sociological, political and cultural pulse of the early 1970s while reflecting on influences in Asian American music.—guest programmer Josslyn Luckett
DCP, color, 26 min. Director: Duane Kubo.
 
Cycles
U.S., 1989
This exuberant experimental drama follows Rasheeda Allen as she anxiously awaits her overdue period. Blending live action with animation, filmmaker Zeinabu irene Davis draws on Caribbean folklore to craft a film language rooted in African American women’s experiences. As Rasheeda cleans her home and performs purification rituals, a layered soundtrack of African and diasporic music, including artists like Miriam Makeba and Clora Bryant, deepens the film’s sensory world. Hailed as “a brilliantly innovative reflection on Black womanhood” by the Los Angeles Times, Davis’ bold imagination shines.—Public Programmer Beandrea July
35mm, b&w, 17 min. Director/Screenwriter: Zeinabu irene Davis.
 
 

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