In Touch with the Spirit: Black Religious and Musical Expression in American Cinema was a BFC/A conference held on July 9-12, 1992 in Indianapolis, IN. The conference took place in conjunction with the Indiana Black Expo (IBE) and was integrated into IBE on-site activities located at the Indianapolis Convention Center. Events consisted of lectures, panel discussions, and film screenings. The keynote lecture was presented by Donald Bogle. Films screened include Sarafina! (1992) (premiere screening), Let the Church Say Amen! (1972), Cabin in the Sky (1943), Say Amen, Somebody (1982), Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (1992), Blood of Jesus (1941), House Party (1990), Praise House (1991), and Bahia: Africa in the Americas (1988) .
Panel discussions were divided into six sessions: Role of Religion in the Community--History and Images, Ethnographic Filmmaking and Black Religious Music in Context, The Sacred/Secular Dilemma in Black Music and Film, Documentary Filmmaker's Panel--Aesthetics and Filmmaking, Black Musical Expression: Contemporary Hollywood and Independent Film, and The Power of the Spirit: Politics, Film, and Oppression.
In Touch with the Spirit: Black Religious and Musical Expression in American Cinema was organized to examine the image and address the impact of black religious and musical expression as depicted in American cinema. Holding the conference at the Indiana Black Expo, "the largest and most progressive African American celebration" in the United States, allowed the non-academic community to observe and participate in an in-depth conversation on the topic. Over 1,000 people attended In Touch with the Spirit to see prominent scholars and filmmakers explore how the film industry impacts perceptions of trends, groups, and individuals.
From the guide to the In Touch with the Spirit Collection, 1989-1994, (Black Film Center/Archive http://www.libraries.iub.edu/~bfca)
