For Release: July 1, 1998

The Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the New York Public Library will sponsor a free screening of Oscar Micheaux's recently rediscovered film "Symbol of the Unconquered."

The free screening will be shown at the Apollo Theater at 253 West 125th street in Harlem, New York Call 212 864-0373 for Tickets. Jazz great Max Roach will perform his original score and a special panel discussion will immediately follow the screening.

Symbol of the Unconquered was directed in 1920 by Oscar Micheaux as a response to D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915), which contained many racist overtones. Micheaux was a controversial figure in his time, a pioneering African American film makers who wrote, produced, directed and distributed between 30 and 50 feature films between 1918 and 1948. Symbol of the Unconquered spoke directly to black audiences about race and racism.

Symbol of the Unconquered can also be seen on Turner Classic Movies as part of a 29 film special tribute to "A Separate Cinema," films made by African American film makers for African American audiences. The films can be seen every Wednesday in July on TCM. TCM, currently seen in more than 23 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. TCM presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner film libraries, from the 1920s through the 1980s, commercial free and without interruption. For more information, please visit the TCM website at (http://TCM.turner.com).