Generations Home Page (En Español) | SCL Home Page


Contact Info
Alexis Moreno
"Generations" Project Director
Ph: (323) 759-6063
Email: archives@socallib.org
(put Generations in the subject line)
South L.A. on Film
Video and Discussion Series

"From Generation to Generation: Making a Life in South Los Angeles, 1940-2005" kicked off to a great start with our Film Fest. Our first film screening was held on August 16, 2003, with Ode to Central Avenue, displaying the famed avenue in the twenties, thirties, and forties. An ethnically diverse crowd, from children to elders, came to the event and shared their different experiences, memories, and comments. This event was followed by a series of screenings, including El Norte, South Los Angeles, and Devil in a Blue Dress, all of which touched upon themes to be covered in the “Generations” project.

Films featured in the series included:

Ode to Central Avenue
Saturday, August 16, 2003
11 a.m.
A portrait of L.A.'s African-American community from the 20s to 30s

El Norte (Spanish with English subtitles)
Saturday, September 20, 2003
11 a.m.
The story of Enrique and Rosa, Guatemalan siblings fleeing their homeland for the safety and promise of the United States after their father is murdered and their mother vanishes, both at the hands of the ruling military regime.

South Los Angeles
Saturday, October 4, 2003
11 a.m.
A documentary profiling local businesses and entrepreneurs in South Los Angeles

Devil in a Blue Dress
Saturday, October 18, 2003 (Spanish)
Saturday, October 25, 2003 (English)
11 a.m.
A rich, shadowy detective film depicting life in post-World War II black America (L.A.-style), starring Denzel Washington as detective Easy Rawlins and Don Cheadle as Easy's best friend, Mouse. Rated R.

All films were shown at the Southern California Library
6120 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles
(between Slauson and Gage)

Download a flyer (PDF)

SCL's Mural "Women in the Labor Movement in California," by Eva Cockcroft