L.A. Rebellion collection, 1972-2009

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Summary

Creators:
Clark, Larry, 1948- and Dash, Julie
Abstract:
As part of an effort to desegregate the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in the late 1960s, a group of African and African-American students enrolled as part of an Ethno-Communications program. Here, these students gained access to the equipment and instruction needed in order to tell their stories. For approximately two decades, these students created a new type of cinema that would later be known as the L.A. Rebellion. These filmmakers represent an early effort to create a new and alternative practice of Black Cinema in the United States. Processed materials consist of the papers of L.A. Rebellion filmmakers Larry Clark and Julie Dash.
Extent:
10 linear feet (12 boxes, 3 flat boxes, 1 half box, 1 oversized folder), 30 linear feet Unprocessed (26 record cartons, 1 flat box, 2 tubes), 214 audiovisual carriers (214 audiocassettes), and 13 born-digital carriers (13 floppy disks)
Language:
Materials are predominantly in English. A few materials in the Larry Clark papers are in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, German, Dutch, and Arabic.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], L.A. Rebellion collection (LSC.2429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The L.A. Rebellion collection currently contains the papers of LA Rebellion filmmakers Larry Clark and Julie Dash who are both known for their writing and directing.

Larry Clark's papers, which comprise the first series of this collection, primarily focus on his 1977 film Passing Through. The film traveled internationally at film festivals for decades following its release, and these files contain a significant amount of ephemera from those festivals. These papers also contain press clippings and promotional materials from both the United States and internationally about Passing Through. This series also contains correspondence to Clark, photographs, and film strips from his films Passing Through and As Above, So Below (1973).

The second series within the LA Rebellion collection contains the papers of LA Rebellion filmmaker Julie Dash. They primarily focus on her 1991 film Daughters of the Dust though the collection does contain some materials for Diary of an African Nun (1977) and Illusions (1982). This collection contains a significant number of press clippings about Dash and her works, from both the United States and international news sources. These papers also contain flyers, brochures, and other ephemera from the many film festivals (both within and outside of the United States) and screenings that showcased Dash's films. This series also contains information about awards won by Dash, critical writings by others about her films, information about the production process for her films including screenplays, and additional ephemera and correspondence relating to Dash and her works.

Biographical / historical:

As part of an effort to desegregate the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in the late 1960s, a group of African and African-American students enrolled as part of an Ethno-Communications program. Here, these students gained access to the equipment and instruction needed in order to tell their stories. For approximately two decades, these students created a new type of cinema that would later be known as the L.A. Rebellion. Some of these filmmakers include Charles Burnett, Larry Clark, and Julie Dash. These filmmakers represent an early effort to create a new and alternative practice of Black Cinema in the United States. These films have received substantial recognition on the international festival stage as well as in commercial markets.

Clark, Larry. L.A. Rebellion Oral Histories: Larry Clark. By Dr. Jacqueline Stewart and Dr. Christopher Horak. June 2, 2010.

L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema. UCLA Library Film and Television Archive. Accessed July 6, 2022. https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/la-rebellion/la-rebellion-creating-new-black-cinema.

Acquisition information:
Larry Clark papers, gift of Larry Clark, 2019. Julie Dash papers, gift of Julie Dash, 2016.
Processing information:

Processed by Maggie Tarmey in 2022 under the supervision of Courtney Dean in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT).

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's Library Collections and Archives.

Arrangement:

This collection has been arranged in the following series:

  • Series 1: Larry Clark papers, 1972-2008
    • Subseries 1.1: Festival materials, 1973-2005
    • Subseries 1.2: Passing Through promotional materials and press, 1972-2008
    • Subseries 1.3: Photographs, film strips, ephemera, 1973-2006
  • Series 2: Julie Dash papers, 1972-2009
    • Subseries 2.1: Press clippings, 1977-2000
    • Subseries 2.2: Film festival and screening materials, 1978-2009
    • Subseries 2.3: Film production materials and screenplays, 1979-2002
    • Subseries 2.4: Awards and critical writing, 1980-2009
    • Subseries 2.5: Correspondence, film catalogs, and ephemera, 1972-2009

Physical location:
Portions of the collection stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page. Box 8 stored on-site.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Portions of collection unprocessed. Material in the Larry Clark papers and Julie Dash papers are processed. Please see LSC's Access to Unprocessed Collections Policy for more information about levels of discovery and access of special collections materials and registering interest in unprocessed collections.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], L.A. Rebellion collection (LSC.2429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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