Emerging Filmmakers Showcase: 'Collections in Black'

The Lindsay’s latest Emerging Filmmakers Showcase is an exciting documentary from a local filmmaker that highlights the rarely explored history of Black comic book creators and enthusiasts.

Collections in Black was directed by Phillip Thompson, a multi-hyphenate artist who many Pittsburghers may know as DJ Big Phill. His film delves into the significant contributions of Black collectors, artists, writers and creators from the Golden Age of comics through today.

Collections in Black will play at The Lindsay on Thursday, June 18, at 7:30 p.m. Thompson will display a few physical examples of Black excellence in this genre and lead an in-person Q&A following the screening. Tickets are free, and we recommend RSVPing via the the below sign-up form due to space limitations.

“This documentary was important to me because there hasn’t been anything like it,” says Thompson. “I’ve been a fan of comics and comic collecting all my life. For me, the most important thing in this was to make sure we got the history right, because I felt like that is something that isn’t always done.”

Thompson is a Penn Hills native and accomplished DJ, music producer, filmmaker and art curator. The 33 and a Third Media founder has been working in the documentary space for more than 25 years. The Archive, his first film that showcases Pittsburgh’s hip-hop landscape, premiered in 2000 at the Andy Warhol Museum.

An abridged version of Collections in Black featured in an art exhibition that also displayed an unprecedented amount of artwork, unique items and other artifacts representing Black comic book culture. The exhibit has appeared in multiple venues nationwide—including Downtown’s August Wilson African American Cultural Center.

The documentary includes interviews with artists from across the country, spotlights important Black figures in comic book history, and documents some of America’s rarest comic and art collections.

Thompson referred to Pittsburgh as “the mecca of Black comic creators.” He pointed to the original Pittsburgh Courier, which ran some of the first Black comic strips; Jackie Ormes, considered to be America’s first Black woman cartoonist; and Matt Baker, a graphic novel pioneer who Thompson believes is “one of the greatest artists of all time.”

He said that Collections in Black was “actually shot to be shown in theaters” and hopes that Pittsburghers check out this “historical love letter to the culture” at The Lindsay.