Within Our Gates
Sylvia Landry, a young Black teacher, goes north to raise money to save a struggling school for Black children in the South. In Boston she meets Dr. Vivian, who falls in love with her and slowly learns her past: the violence a white mob brought on her family. Oscar Micheaux’s answer to The Birth of a Nation is the oldest surviving feature film by an African American director. It depicts lynching and sexual violence.
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Public domain · Source: Library of Congress
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Within Our Gates is available to watch in the United States only, where IFN has confirmed its rights. Every other film on IFN plays where you are.
Browse filmsHow it was made
A silent film written, directed, and produced by Oscar Micheaux and released through his own company. The Library of Congress restored it in 1993 from the only known surviving print, a copy with Spanish intertitles, and translated the titles back into English.
- Live action
Filmed with a camera, with actors and real locations.
- Independent production
Made outside the major studio system.
Produced by Micheaux Book and Film Company.
Credits
- Writer, director, and producer
- Oscar Micheaux
- Cast
- Evelyn Preer (Sylvia Landry), Flo Clements, Charles D. Lucas, James D. Ruffin, Jack Chenault, S. T. Jacks, William Starks, Mattie Edwards
- Production company
- Micheaux Book and Film Company
- Restoration (1993)
- Library of Congress; English titles reconstructed by Scott Simmon
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