Black Film Discussion List

It was suggested at the First Thursday Coffee Discussion group that it might be advantageous to hold edutainment film and discussion sessions at private homes, libraries, churches and other community venues. Here is a list compiled by Diane and Bob Lloyd with input from Tom Schmidt.

Feature

Get Out      Amazon

Lovings      Amazon

Fences      Netflix DVD only      Spokane Co Library      Spokane Public

Hidden Figures      Netflix DVD only      Spokane Co Library      Spokane Public

Birth of a Nation 2016      Spokane Co Library

Birth of a Movement 2017 (Black protest against Birth of a Nation)      Spokane Co Library

Race (Jesse Owens biopic)      Netflix DVD only      Spokane Co Library      Spokane Public

Barry      Netflix

Southside With You      Netflix     Spokane Co Library      Spokane Public

All Eyez On Me 

Chiraq

The Butler

12 Years a Slave

Get On Up (James Brown biopic)

Selma

Separate But Equal (1991 TV miniseries on Thurgood Marshall & Brown vs. Board of Education)

Marshall (Release date October 13, 2017. Early years as a NAACP lawyer before Brown.)

Neither Wolf Nor Dog Story of a well-meaning white writer who is drawn into Native culture when a Lakota elder asks him to turn a box full of notes into a book

Documentary

13th

I am Not Your Negro

Where to Invade Next (Michael Moore)

Welcome to Leith (North Dakota town fights back against white supremacist resident)

Salute – (Peter Norman Australian who stood with black runners who clenched fists on podium)

3 1/2 Minutes 10 Bullets (Jordan Davis)

The Vernon Johns Story 1994 Amazon DVD, Youtube full length

Wilmington on Fire Documentary 2017 watch for on Netflix

What Happened Miss Simone

Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Documentary (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIoYtKOqxeU

Ferguson: Life Matters 2015 http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ferguson-life-matters/

Black Lives Matter 2016 (Seattle artist doc) http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/black-lives-matter-vpro/

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution

PBS

And Still I Rise (Maya Angelou: American Masters)

Africa’s Great Civilizations

The Talk: Race in America

Slavery by Another Name

The African Americans

The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross

The Black Panthers (same as Vanguard? seems to have the same director)

Immigration Battle

Training Films

Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequality https://crackingthecodes.org/

Color of Fear

Classic

Belafonte, Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Spike Lee

Film list sites

Essence Magazine Sundance Film Festival 2017 Black Movies

http://www.essence.com/entertainment/black-movies-sundance-film-festival-2017#1081687

Slate Greatest Films by Black Directors

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/cover_story/2016/05/the_50_greatest_films_by_black_directors.html  Some choices:

Neshoba (2010)  Neshoba examines the current state of race relations in the Mississippi county 40 years after the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner in 1964.  At the center of this film is the trial of one of the Klansmen charged with the murders in 2005 and how locals responded to the case and the subsequent conviction.

The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2005).   Directed by Keith Beauchamp, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till explored the events that led up to the murder of 14-year-old Till in 1955. Having uncovered new evidence that wasn’t available or examined when the case was first tried, Beauchamp’s documentary was the basis upon which the case was re-opened in 2004.  The documentary serves as the foundation for Till, a dramatic account of the murder, trial and aftermath. Till is produced by Beauchamp, Whoopi Goldberg and Frank Zollo.

The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971)  What started as a film about Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party of Illinois turned into an investigative piece following Hampton’s assassination by Chicago police in his apartment as he lay sleeping next to his pregnant fiancée.  The film is divided into two parts. The first features footage shot prior to Hampton’s murder, and the second is the investigation into his murder.  Originally released in 1971, the film didn’t garner much attention. However, it has been restored and re-released on DVD and now contains a short film, Cicero March (1966), about protests against housing discrimination in Illinois.

4 Little Girls Spike Lee.  (Birmingham Church bombing)

Freedom Riders (2010)  Produced for PBS, Freedom Riders commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Rides in 1961.  Winner of at least 11 awards, the film looks specifically at the activists who risked their lives to challenge racial segregation found on interstate transportation vehicles — specifically buses — at bus terminals, waiting rooms, restroom facilities and terminal restaurants.  Directed by Stanley Nelson, Freedom Riders was featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2010.

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)  Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, who acts as the voice of the late Jack Johnson, the film looks at Johnson’s life and experiences with racism and segregation as the first Black “Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World.”  Originally aired in two parts, the documentary looks at Johnson’s refusal to surrender to the structure of institutional racism and challenge social mores that governed a society steeped in segregation.  While focusing on his athleticism, the film also looks at how Johnson’s personal life challenged stereotypes and perceptions of Black males in America.

Indian Country Today Free Report

50 Must-See Modern Native American Movies and Performances