In the late 1960s, in the aftermath of the Watts Uprising and against the backdrop of the continuing Civil Rights Movement and the escalating Vietnam War, a group of African and African American students entered the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, as part of an “Ethno-Communications” initiative designed to be responsive to communities of color (also including Asian, Chicano and Native American communities). Now referred to as the “L.A. Rebellion,” these mostly unheralded artists created a unique cinematic landscape, as—over the course of two decades—students arrived, mentored one another and passed the torch to the next group.

Some aspects of the story have been told before, in articles and in panel discussions, and at retrospective screenings of key films.  Now, UCLA Film & Television Archive has undertaken its L.A. Rebellion initiative to help illuminate previously unknown aspects of the story, the artists and the work, and facilitate a greater understanding of the whole.