The Birth of a Nation
Videos
Page
The Birth of a Nation, originally called The Clansman, is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play The Clansman. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay with Frank E. Woods and produced the film with Harry Aitken.
Theatrical release poster
The film's portrayal of the Siege of Petersburg, led by Ben Cameron
Hooded Klansmen catch Gus, portrayed in blackface by white actor Walter Long
George Siegmann, Ralph Lewis, Lillian Gish, and Henry B. Walthall in a scene of the film
Silent film
Videos
Page
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound. Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of inter-title cards.
A still from 1921's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, one of the highest-grossing silent films
Charlie Chaplin, widely acclaimed as one of the most iconic actors of the silent era, c. 1919
Roundhay Garden Scene, which has a running time of just over two seconds, was filmed in 1888. It is believed to be the world's earliest surviving motion-picture film. The elderly lady in black is Sarah Whitley, the mother-in-law of filmmaker Louis Le Prince; she died ten days after this scene was filmed.
Aziza Amir in Laila (1927)