Black Film Honors for Rolle and Schultz

Actress Esther Rolle and Michael Schultz, the director of 1975’s “Cooley High” and 1976’s “Car Wash,” are the recipients of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame’s 18th annual Oscar Micheaux Awards, named for the late writer-director who, because of non-acceptance by the major studios, produced and marketed his own movies during the ‘20s and ‘30s.

In ceremonies Sunday at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre, Rolle and Schultz will be inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame, which includes such artists as Sammy Davis Jr., Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Lena Horne and Richard Pryor.

The program also will include the presentation of the Paul Robeson Medal for outstanding achievement in the arts to playwright August Wilson and his frequent director Lloyd Richards, and the Clarence Muse Award for black filmmakers on the rise, to Reginald Hudlin and Warrington Hudlin, who wrote and directed “House Party.”

Appearances by Altovise Davis, Gladys Knight, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Keenan Ivory Wayans, M. C. Hammer, Nell Carter, Robin Givens, Tramaine Hawkins, Margaret Avery, Roscoe Lee Brown and Diahann Carroll, among others, are also scheduled.

The Oakland-based Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame evolved from a project started about 20 years ago by the Oakland Museum. Over the years, it has grown to include about 500 regular contributors, 300 volunteers and a full-time staff of three, president Mary Smith said. It survives on donations, proceeds from year-round screenings, grants and corporate sponsorships. This year, the awards program is underwritten by AT&T.;

Criticism of the film industry for lack of opportunity for blacks in the executive suites, as well as of some black stars for not re-investing their earnings in creating job opportunities for black actors and filmmakers has surfaced in the last year. The Beverly Hills/Hollywood Chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People issued a report last summer critical of the film industry.

But in Oakland, the emphasis has been on what already has been achieved as a model for the future.

“It seemed like we needed a place that would support the talents of new and young filmmakers,” said Smith, who stressed the “positive” role of the awards, which she said are “about history and the future . . . .”

“The world looks at us by how we’re projected on TV and film. If we give filmmakers opportunities to make and screen their work, then we can make inroads, and in the process we’ll get a better representation in the media,” Smith said.

Oakland is donating land for the Hall of Fame in its Preservation Park redevelopment area, near the Oakland Convention Center, and has given the group a loan of $800,000 to plan construction of a 30,000-square-foot, three-story building. Groundbreaking is planned for early next year.