Screening of East German Paul Robeson Documentary

I’m a Negro. I’m an American is a documentary shot by DEFA film director Kurt Tetzlaff. Although the film was originally released in 1990, the DEFA library at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst has recently re-released the film as a new digital copy with updated English subtitles. Paul Robeson (1898–1976) was a unique African American icon. He was the son of a former slave, a singer, a football player, Ivy League scholar, Shakespearean actor and civil rights activist. Robeson was lauded in East Germany as a symbol of internationalism and Socialist solidarity. But on American soil, he was treated like a traitor for his politics and had his passport taken away. The documentary tells his story in non-chronological order and focuses on certain life situations and important events using a compilation of materials: rarely shown historic footage, photographs of the U.S. civil rights movement, speeches, performances and visits to East Germany and the Soviet Union. The film also includes interviews with Robeson’s son, the late Pete Seeger and the late Harry Belafonte. The film invites viewers to question how and why East German officials used Robeson’s image to bolster GDR solidarity with the U.S. civil rights movement. The film will be introduced by Evan Torner, Associate Professor of German at the University of Cincinnati. Torner received his PhD from UMass Amherst and worked for the DEFA library for many years. He will introduce the film, offer some historical context and moderate a Q&A afterwards.