Jacqueline Stewart’s research and teaching explore African American film cultures from the origins of the medium to the present, silent cinema, film spectatorship and exhibition, as well as the archiving and preservation of moving images, and “orphan” media histories –including nontheatrical, amateur, and activist film and video. Stewart founded the South Side Home Movie Project, a community-centered archival program housed at the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life that will celebrate its 20th year in 2025. She is chair of the National Film Preservation Board, and former director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. She is host of “Silent Sunday Nights” on Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
Stewart is the recipient of numerous honors including a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2023 Silver Light Award from the Association of Moving Image Archivists, and the 2024 Distinguished Career Achievement Award from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018.
