

The film that broke Hollywood's color barrier gets the love it deserves.
Featurette included on the Criterion Collection's release of Gordon Parks’ feature debut, The Learning Tree. This documentary, produced in September 2021, features filmmakers Ina Diance Archer, Ernest R. Dickerson, and Nelson George, and curator Rhea L. Combs.
Direction
Dickerson and George bring personal, infectious admiration.
Production
Criterion's archival curation at its finest.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Parks was the first Black director of a major studio film, yet his name rarely appears in 'groundbreaker' lists alongside white contemporaries.
Criterion produced this featurette specifically because Parks' work had been out of print for years; the release itself was a restoration project years in the making.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters