Philadelphia‑based filmmaker and film‑historian Michael J. Dennis brought the long‑lost 1990 Black‑cinema title Riverbend back to life for Atlanta audiences. The restored 6K version premiered on August 15 at the historic Plaza Theatre during the BronzeLens Film Festival, with a limited‑edition Blu‑ray released through Videodrome, a local video‑rental store.
From a missing print to a full restoration
“Riverbend” follows three Black Vietnam‑war veterans who lead a rural Georgia town in an armed uprising against Jim Crow oppression. After a brief theatrical run in the early ’90s, the film vanished, surviving only on a handful of VHS tapes. Dennis, who runs the Reelblack TV YouTube channel (about 1.5 million subscribers), saw the film’s cultural importance and began a quest to preserve it.
In 2021 a 35 mm print surfaced on eBay in South Africa, but it was heavily damaged—scratched, spliced, and missing ten minutes of footage. Dennis enlisted preservationist Craig Rogers of Deaf Crocodile to repair the print and fill gaps with VHS sources. The rough “grindhouse” cut screened at the Denton Black Film Festival in 2024.
Final restoration and community launch
Milestone Films’ Dennis Doros helped locate the original negative at FotoKem in Los Angeles. Austin Squitieri of Reel Revival then performed a 6K scan of the surviving interpositive, supervised by director Sam Firstenberg. Dennis raised roughly $20,000 via Kickstarter to fund the work, resulting in a fully restored version with stable color, grain, and sound.
For the Atlanta debut, Videodrome owner Matt Booth partnered with Reelblack Renaissance to host a sold‑out screening. Booth praised the effort, saying, “These are the kind of events we live for—bringing a lost film back to life for our community.” Co‑producer Valerie Vance, an Atlanta resident, attended despite a recent hospital stay and signed autographs after the showing.
Physical media for lasting access
Concerned that streaming platforms could remove the film at any time, Dennis chose to release a physical Blu‑ray. The disc includes a slipcover, over four hours of special features, two commentary tracks, an essay booklet, and a half‑hour featurette on star Steve James’ legacy. Booth noted the Blu‑rays are already selling well and will remain available for years.
Dennis sees this project as the start of a new venture: rescuing, restoring, and reissuing lost classics of Black cinema. He hopes to bring a few more titles to market each year, preserving cultural heritage for future generations.
Original reporting: SaportaReport — read the source article.
