Film 20

Solomon Sir Jones’s 'Film 20' is a profound ethnographic document that captures the pulse of African American life across the Midwest and Oklahoma during the mid-1920s. Far from the scripted narratives of Hollywood, this collection of 16mm footage serves as a silent witness to the prosperity, community, and everyday resilience of Black towns and neighborhoods. From the bustling streets of Kansas City, Missouri, to the self-governed Black enclaves of Boley, Tulsa, and Taft, Jones records a world of Baptist conventions, school graduations, and thriving businesses. It is a visual diary of a 'Promised Land' in the making, documented by a man who was both a minister and a pioneer of the amateur film movement. The footage offers a rare, unmediated look at a society building its own institutions, providing a critical counter-narrative to the era's mainstream cinematic depictions.