The Scar of Shame

Watch the film FREE here: www.fingerlakesfilmtrail.org/watch-the-scar-of-shame

Discussion with Samantha Sheppard, Ken Fox and Barbara Lupack

An educated, upscale black musician marries a woman from a lower socioeconomic class to get her out of the clutches of her abusive stepfather. However, once he "saves" her, he won't let his new wife meet his mother, as he knows she won’t approve, a decision that leads to a downward spiral of events in this melodrama.The film is an early example of a “race film,” productions featuring an all Black cast, made specifically for Black audiences. It’s being shown as part of the Finger Lakes Film Trail’s Race Films/Race Matters series of five such films. The series features a pre-recorded introduction by Cornell’s Samantha Sheppard, Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in the Dept of PMA. The film includes a pre-recorded introduction by Ken Fox, Head of Library and Archives at the Richard and Ronay Menschel Library at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester.

Sheppard and Fox will be joined by Barbara Lupack, series coordinator and film scholar, who has written & lectured about race films, for a discussion of the film on Thursday, February 25 at 7:15pm, hosted by Cornell Cinema. Introductions and a link to the film itself can be found at https://www.fingerlakesfilmtrail.org/films-and-lectures

For more information about the film: www.fingerlakesfilmtrail.org/about-the-scar-of-shame