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July 28, 2022 - August 3, 2022 • 25
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Horace Jenkins, an extraordinary filmmaker and documentarian By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews Recently, when Turner Classic Movies presented “Cane,” it provided a double discovery for me: first, and most significantly, a film I had never heard of was introduced and then to learn who the leading lady was. “Cane,” a film directed by Horace B. Jenkins, was released in 1982 but flew so low under the critical radar that it practically vanished. I was surprised to see Tommye Myrick, someone I had worked with in Detroit, starring with Richard Romain in the leading roles. Apparently, Tommye was either in the process of signing on to the project or completing it since we were hired to produce a show at the Ford Auditorium in 1978 commemorating the birthday of Paul Robeson. It should also At the far right is Horace Jenkins as a young man in discussion with his elders. be noted that for years I worked here at the paper with series. He was also instrumental in process as a kid. As an adult, lookGideon Manasseh, the late pho- developing “Black Journal,” which ing at his work today, it gives me a tographer, the film’s director of was once hosted by media maven totally different understanding of cinematography. Tony Brown. Jenkins worked in who he was.” While I didn’t get the opportunity Europe for NBC International and The setting for “Cane” is Natchito embrace and romance Tommye managed the film department of toches and Jenkins captures all the like Romain in the film, I was a television stations in Saudi Arabia, lushness of the landscape, much beneficiary of her theatrical talent, all of which nourished his film am- of it reeling by while Romain and her way of shaping a production bitions. From 1973 to 1975 he was Myrick gallop on horseback or to keep Robeson’s integrity intact on the faculty of Howard Univer- swim in the river. They are in a within an overall evening of dance, sity’s School of Communications, sense star-crossed lovers, conflictpoetry, and speeches. It’s a shame and there’s a good chance he might ed by their different caste and color Jenkins, who died in December the have spent time with Brown who backgrounds, and it’s a problem same year the film was released, was the founder of the college’s they tackle but have difficulty overdidn’t get a chance to oversee the School of Communications. coming. Carol Balthazar, who partpossible distribution that never Sacha Jenkins, Horace’s son, nered with Jenkins, commented occurred. His insight and genius during an interview reflected on on the color question, noting, “It’s might have been the sparks needed his father and his career. “He was a common issue, because there to assist in the promotion, which is very inquisitive, curious, and that was a lot of intermarriage and, of often the responsibility of produc- fed his storytelling,” he said. “He course, slavery,” she said, and her ers and the director. was driven to tell this story after family history provided the movie’s Jenkins was born Feb. 9, 1941, in he went to Natchitoches, where historical backdrop. Scranton, Penn. Not much infor- his girlfriend was from, and saw Sacha, after seeing the film, mation is available about his early what was happening in terms of began a deeper inquiry, seeking years, but we know he received an land ownership and color, and to learn more about him. “My dad education at the Sorbonne Film thought it was a great entry into a was a filmmaker who was driven Institute in Paris and later won story. His desire to marry history to make films that honored Black Emmys for producing segments with contemporary conversations people, and showed how rich our of “Advocates,” a PBS legal affairs was something that I couldn’t fully histories are, and how varied and
complex we are, but he was not a businessman, so we’re trying to get it right this time,” Sacha said. “But if you would’ve told me 25, 30 years ago, or when I was a kid, after he passed away, that I would one day have a hand in bringing ‘Cane River’ to audiences, with people actually appreciating it and talking about it, I never would have believed you.” Among his discoveries about his father was that he was also a documentarian, including such productions as “Sudan Pyramids: A Zandi’s Dream,” and that he won the 1978 Oscar Micheaux Award for best film and best documentary. Jenkins anticipated the coterie of Black filmmakers who continued his pioneering spirit, both in the realm of fiction and nonfiction. And his son is a direct recipient of that enterprise as he works to complete his film projects and work as a journalist. His documentary “Burn Motherf*cker Burn” (2017) appeared on Showtime and in 2019 he released “Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men.” His documentary on Rick James, “Bitchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James” was featured on Showtime. “I just wonder how my father would have been recognized for what he did, and how life might have been different for myself, my sister and my mom, if the film was officially released when it was supposed to, with Richard Pryor, or whoever else was interested in releasing it,” Sacha said, who was 11 when his father died. “I grew up in a single-parent household, in the ’hood, telling people that my dad was a filmmaker. But no one really believed me because there was nothing really tangible to show people.” Now there is.
ACTIVITIES FIND OUT MORE An obituary appeared in The New York Times, an indication that he was not entirely forgotten, but it does not provide any additional information on his early years. DISCUSSION Only scant background information is provided about his family and the cause of death. PLACE IN CONTEXT Jenkins’ great potential was cut short, but he left behind a remarkable record of achievement.
THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY July 26, 1847: Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia’s first president, was born in Norfolk, Va. He died in 1876. July 26, 1865: Patrick Francis Healy, first Black American to earn a doctorate, was born in Macon, Ga. He died in 1910. July 27, 1897: Pioneering aviator William J. Powell was born in Henderson, Ky. He died in 1942.
