For Hattie...
Saturday, February 28, 2015 at 10:00AM 
Hattie receiving her Oscar from the awesome Fay Bainter, the previous Supporting Actress winnerWe hope you enjoyed The Film Experience's Black History Month miniseries. I asked team members to pick one Oscar nomination or win to talk about hence the very random skip through history. It was our intention to dedicate it in retrospect to Hattie McDaniel, the first black person to win an Oscar, on the exact 75th anniversary of her win. And then... discovery: The 1939 Oscars, a big night for Gone With the Wind, were held on February 29th, 1940, a leap year. So technically we can't. There is no February 29th in 2015.
And yet somehow that's fitting that her history-making win should occur on a date that's elusive. So here's to Hattie and to all who came after.
the episodes
Song of The South (1947) -Timothy
Sounder (1972) - Andrew
Endless Love (1981) - Nathaniel
Street Smart (1987) - Nathaniel
Do The Right Thing (1989) - Matthew
Ghost (1990) - Abstew
Schwarferer (1993) - Special Guest Paul Outlaw
Pulp Fiction (1994) - Jason
Four Little Girls (1997) - Margaret
Monsters Ball (2001) - Special Guest Philip Harville
Benjamin Button (2008) -Matthew
Should we do it again next year? We'd cover Women's History Month for March except we basically do that all the time already.
Reader Comments (6)
Nathaniel, this is my thank you letter for doing this series. You do so much on this blog to shine a light on films we may have overlooked, forgotten, or never heard of.
By all means let us have a repeat of this series. I know it may not have provoked the most comments, but it made me happy to see the recognition given to some great films that just aren't as well known as they should be. I watched "Monster's Ball" and "Four Little Girls" yesterday because of you & your team. I'm sure others were affected as well. Thanks again.
Such a great series -- with a lot of unexpected selections, like Street Smart and Sounder, films I need to see. And Paul Outlaw's look at his Oscar night remains a highlight!
thanks to both of you! that makes me feel good. as you know i've had a terrible flu or something for an entire week and every warm thought helps :)
i enjoyed reading the various pieces so thank you for the series and please consider it again for next year.
Yes, cover Black History every year! That shouldn't even have to be asked on this very white web site.
Most definitely, let's have an encore in 2016...and I'll even contribute a piece!