Native Land is a 1942 docudrama film directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand.^[1]

Synopsis

A combination of a documentary format and staged reenactments (influenced by the cinematic works of Sergei Eisenstein and Aleksandr Dovzhenko), the independently produced film depicted the struggle of trade unions against union-busting corporations, their spies and contractors. It was based on the 1938 report of the La Follette Committee's investigation of the repression of labor organizing.^[2][3]

Famous African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson participated as an off-screen narrator and vocalist.^[4][5]

Cast

• Paul Robeson as Narrator and vocalist (voice)
• Fred Johnson as Fred Hill, a farmer
• Mary George as Hill's wife
• John Rennick as Hill's son
• Amelia Romano as Window scrubber
• Houseley Stevenson as White sharecropper
• Louis Grant as Black sharecropper
• James Hanney as Mack, Union president
• Howard Da Silva as Jim, an informer
• Art Smith as Harry Carlyle
• John Marley as Thug with crowbar

Legacy

Restoration and re-release

A restored version of the film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, funded by the Packard Humanities Institute.^[6]

The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture negative, a 35mm safety duplicate negative, and a 35mm safety up-and-down track negative.”^[6]

The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 26, 2011^[6] and was screened at other North American cities in 2011 including Vancouver.^[7]

References

External links

• Native Land at IMDb