About this Event
Allyson Nadia Field on recovering a forgotten history of Black love on film.
In 1898, vaudeville performers Saint Suttle and Gertie Brown shared a kiss on camera in Something Good—Negro Kiss, the earliest known film to portray African American affection. Lost for more than a century before its remarkable rediscovery, the film offers a powerful counterpoint to the racist stereotypes that shaped early American cinema.
Drawing on her new book, Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss That Changed Film History, Cinema & Media Studies Professor Allyson Nadia Field traces the lives of the performers, the film's extraordinary afterlife, and the overlooked history of Black performance that it reveals. In conversation, Field explores how a single surviving reel reshapes our understanding of early cinema, Black representation, and the enduring power of the moving image.
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Event venue & nearby stays
Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street, Chicago, United States
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