The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will screen Lime Kiln Field Day, a silent film created in 1913 starring iconic entertainer Bert Williams with co-stars Odessa Warren Gray, Sam Lucas, Abbie Mitchell among others. It was the nation’s first romantic comedy to feature an all–black cast supported by an interracial production crew.

The unreleased project lay in the vaults of Biograph Film Studio, until 1938 when movie negatives and reels were donated to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). MoMA made the first print of the movie 38 years later and gave it the working title Bert Williams: Lime Kiln Field Day.

A post-screening discussion will feature Mr. Ron Magliozzi, Associate Curator of Film, MoMA and Rhea Combs, Ph.D., NMAAHC film and photography curator. On the evening of the event, Mr. Donald Sosin will play a special music score that he composed specifically for Lime Kiln.

This screening is the first in the Through the African American Lens Film Series offered in conjunction with the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts.

Registration is suggested. As space allows, walk-ups will be welcome. To make a reservation, please follow this link.

For more information about the event, please email NMAAHCpubpggms@si.edu or call 202-633-1000.

On the evening of the event, you can view the program via webcast.