Native Land

Native Land is a 1942 docudrama film directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand.

Synopsis
A combination of a documentary format and staged reenactments (influenced by the cinematic works of Sergei Eisenstein and Aleksandr Dovzhenko), the independently produced film depicted the struggle of trade unions against union-busting corporations, their spies and contractors. It was based on the 1938 report of the La Follette Committee's investigation of the repression of labor organizing.

Famous African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson participated as an off-screen narrator and vocalist.

Cast

 * Paul Robeson as Narrator and vocalist (voice)
 * Fred Johnson as Fred Hill, a farmer
 * Mary George as Hill's wife
 * John Rennick as Hill's son
 * Amelia Romano as Window scrubber
 * Houseley Stevenson as White sharecropper
 * Louis Grant as Black sharecropper
 * James Hanney as Mack, Union president
 * Howard Da Silva as Jim, an informer
 * Art Smith as Harry Carlyle
 * John Marley as Thug with crowbar

Restoration and re-release
A restored version of the film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, funded by the Packard Humanities Institute.

The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture negative, a 35mm safety duplicate negative, and a 35mm safety up-and-down track negative.”

The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 26, 2011 and was screened at other North American cities in 2011 including Vancouver.