Within Our Gates

Within Our Gates is a 1920 film in which an African-American woman works to help a minister raise money to educate poor children. It stars Evelyn Preer, Flo Clements, James D. Ruffin, Jack Chenault, William Smith and Charles D. Lucas.

The movie was written by Gene DeAnna and Oscar Micheaux, and directed by Micheaux.

In 1993, the Library of Congress Motion Picture Conservation Center restored this film as close to the original as possible, from the only known surviving copy in Spain. The Spanish intertitles were retranslated into English by Gene DeAnna, using typical Micheaux language. Only one short sequence was missing and that was summarized with an intertitle frame.

This is the oldest surviving film made by an African-American director. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.