The House of the Negro Insane

Written by Terence Anthony

Originally Directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce

The year is 1935, and the Taft State Hospital is one of seven psychiatric facilities in the U.S. built exclusively to care for “insane and idiotic negroes,” where the homeless and downtrodden are housed alongside the criminally insane and diseased. Attius builds coffins at Taft Hospital, where he has been locked up for years, but when two new patients ask him to help them escape, Attius dares to dream of a life beyond the hospital walls. The House of the Negro Insane offers a penetrating and moving portrayal that conjures hope in the face of physical, mental, and spiritual incarceration.

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