Broken Earth

Here is a copy of a short movie made in 1935 by Halborn descendant Roman Freulich. Roman was the great grandson of Ankiel and Chasia Halborn, and the youngest son of Nisla Mirla Halborn and Isaac Freulich.

Broken Earth was the second avant-garde film written and directed by Roman Freulich during the 1930s. The first film, made in 1933, was called Prisoner. Both films received critical praise, and both – like many early films – were lost. A copy of the script for Prisoner, now housed in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences library in Los Angeles, is all that remains.

A damaged copy of Broken Earth was rediscovered in the small town of Tyler,Texas in 1983 along with a group of films mostly made for African American audiences. The collection was donated to the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection, Southern Methodist University. In 2003. Broken Earth was released by Southern Methodist as part of a 3 CD album, titled The Black Film Collection. More information about the collection can be found by following this link.

More information about Roman's career, his work on Broken Earth, and his reasons for writing and filming a story about an African American sharecropper can be found in our post: Roman Freulich - Innovator.