Events

Our June movie will be the 1948 documentary Strange Victory, a genre-defying film directed by Leo Hurwitz. The film lays bare the irony of the U.S. going to war with Nazi Germany while racist bigotry (Jim Crow segregation, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, and xenophobia) went unquestioned here at home. Director Hurwitz was later blacklisted from Hollywood during the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950s, likely in part due to his willingness as seen in this movie to "name names" by singling out contemporary figures responsible for perpetuating racial injustice. Hurwitz doesn't mean to be "anti-American"; the film portrays post-World War II prejudice as a cancer on the grandeur and potential of the country, while expressing how the same spirit that won the war could overcome the nation’s problems. Strange Victory is a product of its time, but its themes are still uncomfortably relevant today.

Content Warning: This film depicts graphic portrayals of anti-Semitism, racism, violence, and the consequences of war. There will be racial slurs, actual video of the Holocaust, and still images of lynchings and anti-Semitic propaganda.

Discussion will follow the movie.

This event is free and open to the public. The Black Cat House welcomes all ages, and is a drug and alcohol-free venue. To help keep everyone safe and healthy, we ask that all guests wear face masks in our space. We are wheelchair accessible.