‘Cinematographic Calamity’ or ‘Soul-Stirring Appeal to Every Briton’: in England and South Africa, 1915–1931

D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) remains one of the most controversial films ever made, widely condemned for its offensive and racist representations of African Americans in its fictional recreation of the American Civil War and its aftermath. Whilst the reception of the film in the United States has been well documented, far less attention has been paid to the wider impact of the film outside the USA. I investigate the impact of the film in the UK and the issues this raised, shedding light on the protests that were made by the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines' Protection Society, by Sol T. Plaatje (the well-known black South African writer and political leader who was in London at the time), and by several other concerned individuals. These protests brought the film to the attention of the British Colonial Office and the South African High Commissioner in London, W.P. Schreiner. I explore the reaction of the Colonial Office to the film, and the reasons for its decision not to recommend a blanket ban on showing the film in the colonies. W.P. Schreiner, however, took a different view, and as a result of the steps he took the film was not shown in South Africa until 1931. I then consider the reception of the film when it was eventually shown in South Africa, paying attention to the views expressed by Sol Plaatje and in the press more generally. I conclude with an assessment of the impact the film may have had on Plaatje's engagement with the medium of film, evidenced particularly in his ‘travelling bioscope’ in the 1920s and early 1930s.