In the Shadow of Hollywood: The Racial Politics of Independent Filmmakers of Color in Los Angeles

• In Event: 4147 - Global and Transnational Approaches to Culture and Power (Co-sponsored with the Section on Global and Transnational Sociology)

Abstract

The persistence of de facto racism in the dominant media institutions in the United States, as well as the persistent negative representation of people of color produced by these institutions, is well-documented by scholars of race and the media. However, whether these patterns of exclusion and misrepresentation extend to the practices, politics, and products of people of color in independent filmmaking is less well-known. This study involves a mixed-methods qualitative examination of the race-based politics of independent filmmakers of color. It combines interviews, film analysis, and participant observation in order to investigate how people of color make art, represent their communities, understand the social order, and disrupt the dominant patterns of racial discourse in the media.

Author

• Michael Tuan Tran, UCLA