Classic Black Cinema Series: Greased Lightning

(1977) This is the true story of Wendell Scott, America's first African American NASCAR driver. Wendell returns home from WWII and finds his hometown the way he left it. Beginning a taxicab business, through which he learns all the county roads, the opportunity of his life presents itself. After an invitation to the local race track, a race car driver is born, unbelievably fast and talented, defying expectations, and pushing boundaries in a racist 1950's America. The track and moment is his.

A film series specifically designed as a vehicle to expose the community to the vast artistic value black film has had throughout the years. The goal is to appeal to as diverse a population as possible and further the appreciation of Black cinema.

Curator and host, Felix Curtis, came to Charlotte from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay area where he curated The San Francisco Black Film Festival and Black Filmworks, the annual film festival component of the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, where he later served as Executive Director.