A Brief Guide to Black Film
Image property of REUTERS/Darren Ornitz
“You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.”
Last week I was planning on posting my second blog post, but in light of the protests, George Floyd’s murder, and the police brutality going on in the country, I wanted to amplify Black voices and take a week off from promoting my own content. This week, I’ll be posting two blog posts: the one I had planned for last week and the one you’re currently reading.
This is the age of information, and it’s easier now than ever to get informed and educated on things you may have blind spots on. It’s perfectly okay not to know everything, but I encourage you to start your journey of learning now. I was uninformed on a lot of these issues and have made it a priority to research and take the steps that I feel comfortable taking to help combat racism in America.
If you want to help, but don’t know how, or don’t feel comfortable speaking out on things you aren’t completely knowledgeable about, you can easily sign petitions and donate to bail funds or Black organizations who need funding. You can support Black-owned small business and purchase books from Black authors. And, of course, you can rent or purchase Black filmmakers’ films on streaming services. There are many ways, both large and small, that you can join in the fight against racism and the fight to move forward and make our country a better place.
Obviously, the way that I best know how to spread awareness is to simply highlight a few Black filmmakers and films about the Black experience that I think are worth your time. I hope they expand your perspective on the black experience or at the very least, provide you with an entertaining experience that you can share with your friends and family. It’s important to be able to witness an authentic and passionate portrayal of the Black experience in film, and these films are a great place to start.
So, without further ado, here are a few films that I suggest that are about the Black experience and/or are from Black filmmakers:
NETFLIX:
13th (dir. Ava Duvernay) – A documentary about the 13th amendment and how its loophole was used in the mass incarceration of Black people in the United States. This film covers the history of Black oppression from the 1860s through the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s through the war on crimes and drugs in the 1980s and 1990s.
Atlantics (dir. Mati Diop) – First time director Mati Diop’s Senegalese film won the Grand Prix at Cannes. This supernatural drama focuses on Ada, who is set to marry a rich man but who is in love with a young constructor worker Souleimane.
Moonlight (dir. Barry Jenkins) –This Best Picture winner at the 2017 Oscars follows Chiron, a gay black man, through his adolescence and adulthood in Miami. Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars as well for his brief but powerful appearance as Juan, Chiron’s formidable father figure.
HULU:
Sorry to Bother You (dir. Boots Riley) – The first feature of Boots Riley, known for his funk-inspired hip hop band, The Coup, is a surrealist comedy with a dark heart at its center. Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius Green, who gets a job as a telemarketer at a company that isn’t what it seems. Tessa Thompson co-stars as his artist girlfriend Detroit.
Premature (dir. Rashaad Ernesto Green) – This critically acclaimed, coming-of-age story about a young black poet, Ayanna, and her summer romance in Harlem before going to college made waves at Sundance in 2019.
If Beale Street Could Talk (dir. Barry Jenkins) –This third feature from Barry Jenkins, director of the earth-shaking 2016 movie Moonlight, somehow flew under the radar in 2018, but the 1970s set film about a young couple who are torn apart when one is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit is more relevant now than ever.
AMAZON PRIME:
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (dir. RaMell Ross) – A nominee for Best Documentary at the 2018 Oscars, this unconventional but astoundingly beautiful documentary captures a day in the life of a Black community in Hale County, Alabama.
I Am Not Your Negro (dir. Raul Peck) –This Oscar-nominated documentary is director Raul Peck’s vision of what James Baldwin’s unfinished project, “Remember This House” would look like had he finished it before his passing.
Just Mercy (dir. Destin Daniel Cretton) –Although directed by a Hawaiian man, Just Mercy flew under the radar last awards season as well with its release on Christmas Day. Now streaming for free on Amazon, not just for Prime users, Just Mercy follows a Harvard grad who works as a defendant in Alabama for those who have been wrongly convicted.
HBO:
BlacKkKlansman (dir. Spike Lee) –Although new to Spike Lee’s films, I was blown away by BlacKkKlansman when I saw it last year. It stars John David Washington as Ron Stallworth, who is a detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department who infiltrates the KKK in the 1970s.
Us (dir. Jordan Peele) –Although I find Us not quite as strong as Get Out, Jordan Peele’s sophomore feature tackles interesting social questions and was one of the most unique and exciting films to be released last year. The film follows Adelaide Wilson as she and her family go on vacation near the spot of a traumatic experience from her childhood and experience strange happenings while there.
Blindspotting (dir. Carlos López Estrada) —This drama about Collin Hoskins, a man in his final days on parole who gets wrapped up in a police shooting, was written by and stars Daveed Diggs, of Hamilton fame. Partly a love letter to Oakland, this film also premiered at Sundance in 2018 and received critical acclaim.
This is only the tip of the iceberg of the easily accessible Black films available on streaming services right now. I hope these films affect you as they have affected me, and that they inspire you to take action. I also implore you to avoid “white savior” movies like The Help and Green Book. If you would like to learn more on why these movies are problematic, check out Wesley Morris’ Pulitzer Prize-winning essay on The Help here.