Since the beginning of the film industry in North America, Hollywood’s representations of race – from the blackface caricatures of Birth of a Nation to the wooden portrayals of Native Americans in the Hollywood western – have often served to marginalize people of colour. Although this course will examine Hollywood’s representations of racial difference, it will focus on the ways in which North American filmmakers from ethnic and racial minority groups have responded to these images and stories. From Japanese movie star and producer, Sessue Hayakawa, to contemporary Asian Canadian filmmakers like Mina Shum; from race movie auteurs like Oscar Micheaux, to Blaxploitation genre films like Sweet Sweetback’s Badass Song, the class will look at how minority filmmakers have represented their communities on screen while negotiating their place in an industry dominated by Hollywood. The course will be organized thematically as we discuss such topics as theories of race and representation, race and gender, race and stardom, and film reception amongst people of colour. The class will also look at amateur, non-fiction, and experimental filmmakers to think about how film form as well as content can be used to challenge and expand ideas of race on screen.