This month, film historian and author Donald Bogle will present a two-night showcase of films featuring powerhouse performances by African Americans that have largely been forgotten or overlooked by the Academy and history. In 2015, the #OscarsSoWhite campaign brought attention to the lack of diversity in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' voting committee, which has resulted in films by and starring African Americans and other minorities being largely underrepresented. Since then, there have been more black Academy Award wins and nominees than ever before.

An authority on African American representation in Hollywood, Bogle has authored over a dozen books including Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks, Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood and his newest book, Hollywood Black. Some of the films featured in our two nights of programming include performances that weren't starring roles and some even have limited screen time or dialogue. Nevertheless, the talent of the actors featured is undeniable and a testament to their incredible skill. The films in our lineup include:

Nothing But a Man (1964) is a drama directed and co-written by Michael Roemer about Duff Anderson (Ivan Dixon), an African-American railroad worker whose life in a racist small town in Alabama is elevated after he marries a local preacher's daughter (Abbey Lincoln). Julius Harris plays Duff's father and Gloria Foster is the father's girlfriend. Both women deliver honorable performances. The film was well received by critics but did not receive Academy attention.

Edge of the City (1957) is a film noir directed by Martin Ritt and starring John Cassavetes and Sidney Poitier as stevedores in Manhattan who form an interracial friendship that is resented by some of their fellow workers, leading to tragic results. Ruby Dee costars as Poitier's wife, in which she delivers an emotionally sound performance. The film is based on a 1955 teleplay, A Man Is Ten Feet Tall, which also starred Poitier.

The Landlord (1970) is a bittersweet comedy-drama directed by Hal Ashby about a spoiled young white man (Beau Bridges) who becomes landlord of an inner-city Brooklyn tenement, planning to evict the tenements and build a nice home for himself. His attitude changes after he becomes involved with two of the female tenements, Marki Bey and Diana Sands. Louis Gossett Jr. co-stars as Sands' husband, who is devasted by an affair. Pearl Bailey also costars as a palm reader who lives in the tenement.

The Tall Target (1951) is an historical thriller directed by Anthony Mann and starring Dick Powell as a New York police sergeant attempting to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln as he travels to his inauguration. Ruby Dee, a newcomer to Hollywood at the time, plays Rachel, a slave who helps uncover the murder conspiracy.

Films featured on our January 23 night include:

Imitation of Life (1934) is the first film version of the 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst about a white woman (Claudette Colbert) and her life-changing relationship with the black housekeeper (Louise Beavers) who becomes her best friend. The film, Oscar-nominated as Best Picture of 1934, was remade in 1959 with Lana Turner and Juanita Moore, who received an Oscar nomination for role originally played by Beavers. Though Beavers had been working in Hollywood since the silent era, she was largely overlooked due to playing maids and mammy types, the only roles Hollywood offered her.

Body and Soul (1947) is a film noir directed by Robert Rossen and starring John Garfield as a conflicted young boxer who faces some difficult choices after signing on with corrupt management. Canada Lee plays a boxer who suffers brain damage after a match with Garfield and becomes the other fighter's trainer and moral compass. In real life, both Garfield and Lee were blacklisted and died in 1952 at tragically young ages. (Garfield was 38, Lee 44.)

The Member of the Wedding (1952), directed by Fred Zinnemann, is a film version of the 1950 Broadway play and the 1946 Carson McCullers novel on which it was based. Repeating their roles from the stage drama are Oscar nominee Julie Harris as the Southern girl who is traumatized by her older brother's wedding, Brandon De Wilde as her young cousin, and Ethel Waters as the big-hearted housekeeper who cares for them. Waters had won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for her stage performance but no Academy Award nominations.

Intruder in the Dust (1949) is a drama directed by Clarence Brown and based on the 1948 novel by William Faulkner. Juano Hernandez, an Afro-Puerto Rican actor who had a career in Hollywood films from the 1930s through 1970, takes the leading role of Lucas Beauchamp, a wealthy and respectable black man unjustly accused of murdering a white man. Attempting to help him prove his innocence are a teenage boy (Claude Jarman Jr.), the town lawyer (David Brian), and an elderly woman (Elizabeth Patterson). For his performance, Hernandez won a Golden Globe as Most Promising Male Newcomer and was nominated by the New York Film Critics Circle Award as Best Actor. Faulkner himself commented, "That Juano Hernandez is a fine actor -- and man, too."