Born in 1884, Oscar Micheaux was the son of former enslaved people, and one of 11 siblings who attended segregated schools in Illinois. He began his career by writing novels about homesteading as a Black man. His first feature, THE HOMESTEADER (1919), is now believed lost but his film WITHIN OUR GATES (1920), released the following year, is considered to be the oldest...

This film was originally selected as an AFI Movie Club pick on May 5, 2021. Born in 1884, Oscar Micheaux was the son of former slaves, and one of 11 siblings who attended segregated schools in Illinois. He began his career by writing novels about homesteading as a Black man. His first feature, THE HOMESTEADER (1919), is now believed lost but...

Born in 1884, Oscar Micheaux was the son of former slaves, and one of 11 siblings who attended segregated schools in Illinois. He began his career by writing novels about homesteading as a Black man. His first feature, THE HOMESTEADER (1919), is now believed lost but his film, WITHIN OUR GATES, released the following year, is considered to be the oldest surviving feature film...

Pioneering Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s BIRTHRIGHT is safeguarded for preservation and posterity in the AFI Collection at the Library of Congress.  Watch actor Lorenzo Tucker discuss BIRTHRIGHT filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Movie Trivia about BIRTHRIGHT DID YOU KNOW?  In 1919 Oscar Micheaux formed his own movie production company and became the first African American to make a feature film.    DID YOU…