A Visit to the Harvard Film Archive

Jeremy M. Rossen, assistant curator at the Harvard Film Archive (HFA), wants to bring more students to 24 Quincy St.

“Sometimes it’s like you get caught in your own little circle, and you forget about the greater world around you,” Rossen laments.

He notes that at a recent showing of the film “Coffee” at the archive, the HFA’s 185-seat theater was filled nearly to capacity.

“We have our core audience, and we would like to explore and get more of a student audience, and get more of a dialogue,” Rossen says. “We want diversity, and we would like to show to the widest audience possible.”

The HFA, according to Rossen, possesses more than 3,500 works in a number of genres, and tries to choose showings to reflect that diversity. “We don’t just pick one genre,” Rossen says. “We like to have a balance.”

Right now, the archive is preparing to launch its upcoming screen series “Say it Loud! The Black Cinema Revolution,” which will focus on the socio-political issues concerning people of color in the 1970s.

The series will include selections from

“American Black Journal,” a television show created in 1968.

According to Rossen, the show’s co-producer, Kent Garrett ’63, will come to the Harvard Archive to show a selection of his works.

Garrett, a documentarian, has worked on a number of films since his time on “American Black Journal,” covering subjects from African American police officers to the Vietnam War.

Rossen believs that Garrett’s work will resonate with a contemporary audience. “Garrett, one of 19 African Americans to be admitted to Harvard in 1959, is currently making a film called “Last Negroes at Harvard.”

While Rossen hopes to draw more visitors with the upcoming series, he also emphasizes that the HFA already has a strong following.

“The lights were dimmed and it felt like a fun atmosphere, and everybody seemed to be really excited, and there was clapping afterwards,” Rossen says. “Hopefully that momentum will continue on through the series and to some of the lesser political documentaries.”