In her new book, Alyssa Lopez argues that Black film culture, from its origins to its firm establishment in the 1930s, was both a space of both entertainment and resistance. Reel Freedom chronicles the wide-ranging and remarkable pervasiveness of Black film culture in New York City, redefining a period and place most associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Exploring how ordinary people, labor activists, journalists, filmmakers, theater managers, and owners all shaped Black film culture, Lopez illustrates how these New Yorkers leveraged cinema to make the city their own and to enjoy urban living to its fullest.

Paula J. Massood, author of Black City Cinema: African American Urban Experiences in Film and Making a Promised Land: Harlem in 20th-Century Photography and Film, joins in conversation.