Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color

Jul 15, 2021

0h 20m

★ 10.0

An overnight success, 80 years in the making.

Overview

Alma W. Thomas lived a life of firsts: the first Fine Arts graduate of Howard University (1924), the first Black woman to mount a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1972), and the first Black woman to have her paintings exhibited in the White House (2009). Yet she did not receive national attention until she was 80.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Reel Plan

Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color Trailers

Cast

Alma Thomas (voice)

Alfre Woodard

After World War II a group of young writers, outsiders and friends who were disillusioned by the pursuit of the American dream met in New York City. Associated through mutual friendships, these cultural dissidents looked for new ways and means to express themselves. Soon their writings found an audience and the American media took notice, dubbing them the Beat Generation. Members of this group included writers Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg. a trinity that would ultimately influence the works of others during that era, including the "hippie" movement of the '60s. In this 55-minute video narrated by Allen Ginsberg, members of the Beat Generation (including the aforementioned Burroughs, Anne Waldman, Peter Orlovsky, Amiri Baraka, Diane Di Prima, and Timothy Leary) are reunited at Naropa University in Boulder, CO during the late 1970's to share their works and influence a new generation of young American bohemians.

0.0

A Body Like Mine

Dec 14, 2023

Through post-porn, performance and wrestling, Puck tries to figure out her place in the world.

10.0

An immersion into the Divine Feminine

Aug 15, 2017

By drawing a parallel between the Indian Durga Puja festival and other forms of celebrating the divine feminine, Santa Shakti reveals the Sacred Power beyond languages and religions.

8.0

The New York Graffiti Experience

Jan 23, 1976

Documentary on New York Graffiti featuring art by Cliff, Phase 2, Comet, Blade, IN, Billy167, LSD OM, Ajax , Dean, Mico, Checker 170, Skylark

0.0

How It Breathes

Mar 24, 2024

Elijah Jamal Balbed grew up in Washington DC in the midst of one of its most difficult eras, as its identity was being tested. As the city changed around him, his budding career as a musician exposed him to the people and music providing a voice and an outlet to the people of DC. Now tasked with preserving and sharing that tradition, Balbed reflects on balancing that responsibility with creating a musical identity of his own.

8.5

Mondongo II: Portrait of Mondongo

Mar 14, 2024

“This is a film about the end of a friendship. It wasn’t meant to be. Fifteen years ago, they painted my portrait.” (Mariano Llinás)

1.0

The 2019 World Series

Dec 2, 2019

The 2019 World Series was loaded with surprises, comebacks, superstars, and a few new records. Home field advantage belonged to the 105-win Houston Astros, who were looking to take back a title they had won in 2017. The white-hot Washington Nationals were fighting for the first championship in franchise history. The Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros in a most unpredictable Fall Classic, winning Game 7 with one last rally in a season full of rallies. For the first time in MLB history, the road team won all seven games in the World Series.

0.0

Inn Signs Through the Ages

Nov 17, 1936

Fred Taylor displays a number of items from the Building Centre's 'Inn Sign Exhibition' held in November 1936. Some signs in the exhibition date back to the reign of Charles II, while others are more contemporary.

0.0

All Rendered Truth: Folk Art in the American South

Jan 1, 2009

A film documenting the soulful art, environments, and voices of self-taught artists on the back roads of the American South.

0.0

Howard Finster: Hidden Man of Heart

Jan 1, 1980

This remastered, rare, local production from the 80s is an unfiltered look into the mind and heart of the world-renowned folk artist Howard Finster. Walking and talking in his Paradise Garden, Finster gives insight into his visions, Faith, and artwork. He even sings and plays the banjo. Dr. George Pullen interviews Finster. And in this case, the word "interview" means that Dr. Pullen just lets Finster talk. And it's pure gold.

7.3

Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405

Oct 14, 2016

56-year-old artist Mindy Alper has suffered severe depression and anxiety for most of her life. For a time she even lost the power of speech, and it was during this period that her drawings became extraordinarily articulate.

6.5

The Body as Matrix: Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle

Mar 15, 2002

With the five-part Cremaster Cycle of films, multi-award-winning artist Matthew Barney invented a densely layered and interconnected sculptural world that surreally combines sports, biology, sexuality, history, and mythology as it organically evolves. In this program, Barney, Guggenheim curator Nancy Spector, and others deconstruct the Cycle’s filming and subsequent translation into sculptural installations. The locations, characters, and symbols that organize the Cycle films; the Cycle installations as spatial content carriers and extensions of the performances; and objectification of the body and undifferentiated sexuality are addressed, as are the intricacies of costuming, makeup, and sculpting with Barney’s signature materials: plastic, metal, and Vaseline.

0.0

Painting Pain

Jul 6, 2021

The film approaches the work of the Greek artist Nikos Koniaris. The particular way in which the painter depicts human suffering is presented through a film - a hybrid of real recording and directed material. The grief, the sick body, is reflected in self portraits, portraits of dying strangers and paintings of dead models. The paintings, apart from his work, also express a different version of himself. All together contribute to the depiction of man as a "garment of pain".

0.0

Steph Jane - A Portrait Story

Sep 22, 2019

Through an intimate conversation, Steph Jane, age 28, shares the struggles and lessons her second diagnosis of stage-4 cancer has taught her. From being genuinely present and savouring simple moments to thoughts of the future and what really matters, Steph reveals beauty and wisdom which transcend appearance and years.

5.0

Achieving the Unachievable

Sep 1, 2007

M.C. Escher is among the most intriguing of artists. In 1956 he challenged the laws of perspective with his graphic Print Gallery and his uncompleted master-piece quickly became the most puzzling enigma of modern art. Fifty years later, can mathematician Hendrik Lenstra complete it? Should he?

0.0

The Real Beauty and the Beast

Jun 14, 2013

It's a condition known as "hypertrichosis" or "Ambras Syndrome," but in the 1500s it would transform one man into a national sensation and iconic fairy-tale character. His name: Petrus Gonsalvus, more commonly known today as the hairy hero of Beauty and the Beast.

8.0

Under the Weight of a Waking Dream

Jan 20, 2025

‘Under the Weight of a Waking Dream’ is Zefier's debut swan song to the ending year. Comprised of poetry and endless enumerations is a diaristic film chronicling the lessons and contradictions found throughout the human experience.

8.0

James Ensor: Demons Teasing Me

Oct 14, 2010

This film explains what James Ensor (1860-1949) meant for the development of art and makes palpable where he got his inspiration from.

Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color Trailers