A Darker Side of Fair (2004) / Documentary / Shedding new light upon issues of global diversity, this documentary focuses on the extent to which a “fairness fetish” has permeated various levels of Indian society. Today in India fairness is a benchmark for beauty; marriages are decided on the basis of skin color; and fair means “lucky” whereas dark means “ugly.” Fair skin as an ideal exists in all facets of Indian life: fashion, marriage, advertising etc.
A Dry White Season (1989) / Drama, Thriller / A white middle class South African suburbanite with no interest in politics agrees to help his black gardener find his jailed son. His investigation opens his eyes to the horrors committed by the secret police and turns him into a target.
A Girl Like Me (2005) / Documentary / I wanted to make a film that explored the standards of beauty imposed on today’s black girls. How do these standards affect her self-esteem or self-image? Through making this film I learned a lot about where some of these standards might stem from. — Kiri Davis
A Great Day in Harlem (1994) / Documentary, Music / The documentary compiles interviews of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine.
A Patch of Blue (1965) / Drama, Romance / A blind, uneducated white girl is befriended by a black man, who becomes determined to help her escape her impoverished and abusive home life by introducing her to the outside world.
A Question of Color (1993) / Documentary / Kathe Sandler interviews African Americans about their experiences with skin color, particularly within Black communities. Young, old, male and female all express their relationships to their skin color and physical features.
A Raisin in the Sun (1961) / Drama / A substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.
A Soldier’s Story (1984) / Crime, Drama, Mystery / An African American officer investigates a murder in a racially charged situation in World War II.
A Time to Kill (1996) / Crime, Drama, Thriller / In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.
Aboriginal Australians. The Men of the Fifth World (2014) / Documentary / A documentary about the Australia’s original inhabitants.
        
Adam Clayton Powell (1989) / Documentary / The Academy Award-nominated ADAM CLAYTON POWELL delves into the gripping life and career of the most influential and flamboyant civil rights leader in America in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. From his emergence as the princely pastor of Harlem’s enormous Abyssinian Baptist Church, to his improbable, riotous political climb and eventual ruin, this must-watch film captures a man who was truly larger than life. Narrated by civil rights activist Julian Bond and resplendent with rich archival footage and candid interviews with those who knew him best, this tell-all documentary mines the good, bad, and ugly acts of Powell’s illustrious but controversial career – the multiple marriages, the uproarious taunting of the white establishment, his desegregation of Congress, and his shameful smearing of Martin Luther King, Jr. from self-imposed exile on the island of Bimini. An unforgettable story of being unforgivably black in white America, ADAM CLAYTON POWELL makes for “endlessly fascinating, thoroughly enjoyable” viewing (Chicago Sun-Times). Masterfully directed by Richard Kilberg, this film explores the nature of power, personality, and politics as exemplified in a flawed, but sublime hero.
        
Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony (2002) / Documentary, History, Music / Interviews, archival footage, and filmed performances highlight the role of music in the South African struggle against apartheid.
        
Amistad (1997) / Biography, Drama, History / In 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.
        
Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker (1994) / Drama, Thriller / The story of Johnson Whittaker, one of the first African-American cadets admitted to West Point. Tied down and beaten by his fellow cadets, Whittaker was court-martialed on the grounds that he staged his own assault to avoid taking a philosophy exam. His defense attorneys consisted of a racist and a black Harvard Graduate who squabble over how best to present his defense.
        
Bamboozled (2000) / Comedy, Drama, Music / A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin it becomes a hit.
        
Bastards of the Party (2005) / Documentary / Surrounded by death and the brutal lifestyle that feeds it, a Los Angeles gangbanger explores the history of Southern California street gangs from the 1950s through the 1990s in an attempt to fully understand his existence. Bastards of the Party humanizes the staggering casualties of the LA gang wars.
        
Beautiful Me(s): Finding our Revolutionary Selves in Black Cuba (2008) / Documentary / A group of predominately African American students travel from the Ivy League to the rebel state of Cuba. As outcasts within the elite cloistered environment of Yale University, they become intrigued by the revolutionary mystique of Cuba and its contentious relationship with the United States. After overcoming financial and political obstacles, the misfits take the field trip of a lifetime to the blockaded island. They witness extraordinary hip hop, reggae and rumba performances and strike up conversations with Cubans from all walks of life. The group is welcomed into a raucous block party with hundreds of people in an integrated neighborhood. Behind a cultural curtain created by political conflict, the students discover that Cuban people feel a close affinity with Africans and African Americans, and are deeply committed to ending racial injustice.
        
Beloved (1998) / Drama, History, Horror / Beloved is a 1998 American fantasy drama film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandie Newton. Based on Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel of the same name, the plot centers on a former slave after the American Civil War, her haunting by a poltergeist, and the visitation of her reincarnated daughter.
        
BlacKkKlansman (2018) / Biography, Crime, Drama / Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
Black Girl (1966) / Drama / A black girl from Senegal becomes a servant in France.
Black Like Me (1964) / Drama / Based on the true story of a white reporter who, at the height of the civil-rights movement, temporarily darkened his skin to experience the realities of a black man’s life in the segregated South.
Black Orpheus (1959) / Orfeu Negro (original title) / Drama, Fantasy, Music / A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Black Panther (2018) / Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi / T’Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s past.
Blood Sister (2003) / Drama / Blood sisters is a captivating story of two sisters growing up in a world of poverty, where selfish desires are being realized and jealousy becomes the main issue of their household.
Brightness (1987) /  Yeelen (original title) / Drama, Fantasy / A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.
Brocket 99: Rockin’ the Country (2006) / Documentary, War, Western / This provocative documentary explores the fragile and often dispirited relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians through a discussion of the infamous cult tape, Brocket 99.
Buena Vista Social Club (1999) / Documentary, Music / Aging Cuban musicians whose talents had been virtually forgotten following Castro’s takeover of Cuba, are brought out of retirement by Ry Cooder, who travelled to Havana in order to bring the musicians together, resulting in triumphant performances of extraordinary music, and resurrecting the musicians’ careers.
Celia: The Queen (2008) / Documentary, Music / The Documentary of the life and times of ‘Celia Cruz’.
Central Park Five (2012) / Documentary, Crime, History / A documentary that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After having spent between 6 and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
Circus (1936) / Tsirk (original title) / Musical, Comedy / American circus performer finds herself the victim of German inspired racism after it’s revealed she’s the mother of an mixed-race child. In the midst of the public scandal, she finds happiness, love & refuge in the USSR.
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary (2016) / Documentary, Biography, Music / An exploration of the global power and impact of the music of John Coltrane where the passions, experiences and forces that shaped his life and revolutionary sounds are revealed.
Coffy (1973) / Action, Crime, Thriller / A sexy black nurse takes vigilante justice against inner-city drug dealers after her sister becomes their latest victim.
Continuous Journey (2004) / Documentary / In 1914 the Komagata Maru, a vessel with 376 immigrants from British India, became the first ship carrying migrants to be turned away by Canada. The consequences were felt throughout the British Empire.
Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity (2013) / Educational Film, Historical Documentary / The film works to disentangle internal beliefs, attitudes and pre-judgments within, and it builds skills to address the structural drivers of social and economic inequities.
Crash (2004) / Crime, Drama, Thriller / Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
Cry Freedom (1987) / Biography, Drama, History / South African journalist Donald Woods is forced to flee the country, after attempting to investigate the death in custody of his friend, the black activist Steve Biko.
Cry, the Beloved Country (1995) / Drama, Thriller / A South African preacher goes to search for his wayward son, who has committed a crime in the big city.
Dark Girls (2011) / Documentary / Documentary exploring the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color—particularly dark skinned women, outside of and within the Black American culture.
Detroit (2017) / Crime, Drama, History / Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.
Django Unchained (2012) / Drama, Western / With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.
Do The Right Thing (1989) / Comedy, Drama / On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone’s hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Driving Miss Daisy (1989) / Drama / An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.
Drum (1976) / Action, Drama / A mid-19th-century mulatto slave is torn between his success as a pit-fighter and the injustices of white society.
Dry Season (2006) / Daratt (original title) / Drama / Chad, 2006. After a forty-year civil war, the radio announces the government has just amnestied the war criminals. Outraged by the news, Gumar Abatcha orders his grandson Atim, a sixteen-year-old youth, to trace the man who killed his father and to execute him. Atim obeys him and, armed with his father’s own gun, he goes in search of Nassara, the man who made him an orphan. It does not take long before he finds him. Nassara, who now goes straight, is married, goes to the mosque and owns a small bakery. After some hesitation Atim offers him his services as an apprentice. He is hired then it will be easy for him to gun down the murderer of his father. At least, that is what he thinks…
        
18 Hours (2017) / Drama, Thriller / A rookie paramedic spends 18 hours in an ambulance for the life of a road crash victim who struggles to be admitted to any hospital.
        
Eyes on the Prize (1987) / Documentary, History / A documentary about the American Civil Rights Movement from 1952 to 1965.
Far from Heaven (2002) / Drama / In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.
February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (2003) / Documentary / Based largely on first-hand accounts and rare archival footage, the new documentary film February One documents one volatile winter in Greensboro that not only challenged public accommodation customs and laws in North Carolina, but served as a blueprint for the wave of non-violent civil rights protests that swept across the South and the nation throughout the 1960’s.
Finding Fela! (2014) / Documentary, Biography, History / A look at the life and music of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti.
Finding Forrester (2000) / Drama / A young writing prodigy finds a mentor in a reclusive author.
Fire (1996) / Drama, Romance / Two women who are abandoned by their husbands, find love and solace in each other.
Fire in the Blood (2013) / Documentary / An intricate tale of “medicine, monopoly and malice”, FIRE IN THE BLOOD tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of the global south in the years after 1996 – causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths – and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back. Shot on four continents and including contributions from global figures such as Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Joseph Stiglitz, FIRE IN THE BLOOD is the never-before-told true story of the remarkable coalition which came together to stop ‘the crime of the century’ and save millions of lives in the process.
500 Years Later (2005) / Documentary / Crime, drugs, HIV/AIDS, poor education, inferiority complex, low expectation, poverty, corruption, poor health, and underdevelopment plagues people of African descent globally – Why? 500 years later from the onset of Slavery and subsequent Colonialism, Africans are still struggling for basic freedom-Why? Filmed in five continents, and over twenty countries, 500 Years Later engages the authentic retrospective voice, told from the African vantage-point of those whom history has sought to silence by examining the collective atrocities that uprooted Africans from their culture and homeland. 500 Years Later is a timeless compelling journey, infused with the spirit and music of liberation that chronicles the struggle of a people who have fought and continue to fight for the most essential human right – freedom.
Flame in the Streets (1961) / Drama / During the 1960s in Britain, tense race relations between whites and blacks are affecting the workplace, the family, the dating scene, and the society at large.
Footprints of Pan Africanism (2018) / Documentary / In the 1950s, African Americans from all walks of life followed Kwame Nkrumah’s call to come home to live and work in Africa. It was a call to not only help rebuild the independent country of Ghana, but to also join in the creation of a liberated Pan-African territory. On the day that Ghana’s independence was proclaimed, Nkrumah, who became Ghana’s first president, stated that Ghana’s independence was meaningless unless it was linked to the liberation of the whole of Africa. Intertwining the struggles of the Diaspora and Africa, Footprints of Pan-Africanism honors the powerful bonds that were so crucial to this era. While one country was struggling for equity and the other for independence, both movements were rooted in a determination to reassert their humanity and recover from the impact of slavery and colonialism.
For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story (1983) / Comedy, Drama, Romance / Based on the life and times of NAACP field secretary and Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers, assassinated in 1963.
42 (2013) / Biography, Drama, Sport / In 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and faces considerable racism in the process.
4 Little Girls (1997) / Documentary, History / A documentary of the notorious racial terrorist bombing of an African American church during the Civil Rights Movement.
Foxy Brown (1974) / Action, Crime, Thriller / A voluptuous black vigilante takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
Freedom Riders (2010) / Documentary, History / The story of the Civil Rights Movement interstate busing protest campaign.
Freedom Summer (2014) / Documentary / A look back at the summer of 1964, when more than 700 student activists took segregated Mississippi by storm, registering voters, creating freedom schools and establishing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2000) / Documentary, Music / A documentary about freestyling–the improvised, on-the-spot rhymes that demonstrate the skills of hip-hop MCs.
Fresh (1994) / Crime, Drama, Thriller / Death and violence anger a twelve-year-old drug courier, who sets his employers against each other.
Fruitvale Station (2013) / Biography, Crime, Drama / The story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.
        
George Washington Carver: An Uncommon Way (2010) / Documentary, Biography / His journey was extraordinary: though born a slave, by the end of his life, presidents and corporate titans valued his friendship. Millions of Americans benefited from his innovations. His scientific genius is legendary, but less known is his remarkable path to greatness, defined by a life-long passion for serving others. This stimulating documentary beautifully traces the valiant life of George Washington Carver, chronicling his improbable odyssey from slavery to becoming a household name.
        
Get on Up (2014) / Biography, Drama, Music / A chronicle of James Brown’s rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
        
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) / Drama, History / A Mississippi district attorney and the widow of Medgar Evers struggle to finally bring a white racist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader.
        
Glory (1989) / Biography, Drama, History / Robert Gould Shaw leads the U.S. Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices from both his own Union Army, and the Confederates.
        
Glory Road (2006) / Biography, Drama, Sport / In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
        
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) / Comedy, Drama / A couple’s attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiancé.
        
Hidden Colors (2011) / Documentary / Hidden Colors is a documentary about the real and untold history of people of color around the globe. This film discusses some of the reasons the contributions of African and aboriginal people have been left out of the pages of history. Traveling around the country, the film features scholars, historians, and social commentators who uncovered such amazing facts about things such as: The original image of Christ; The true story about the Moors; The original people of Asia; The great west African empires; The presence of Africans in America before Columbus; The real reason slavery was ended And much more.
        
Hidden Colors 2: The Triumph of Melanin (2012) / Documentary / “Hidden Colors 2″ is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2011 documentary about the untold history of people of African and aboriginal descent. This installment of goes into topics such as the global African presence, the science of melanin, the truth about the prison industrial complex, how thriving Black economic communities were undermined in America, the hidden truth about Native Americans, and much more.
        
Hidden Figures (2016) / Biography, Drama, History / The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.
Higher Learning (1995) / Crime, Drama, Romance / People from all different walks of life, encounter racial tension, rape, responsibility, and the meaning of an education on a university campus.
Home of the Brave (1949) / Drama, War / During WW2, a reconnaissance platoon is sent to map out a Japanese-held island but racial tensions arise between the white soldiers and the only black member of the group.
Hotel Rwanda (2004) / Biography, Drama, History / Paul Rusesabagina was a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.
Hyènes (1992) / Comedy, Drama / Dramaan is the most popular man in Colobane, but when a woman from his past, now exorbitantly wealthy, returns to the town, things begin to change.
I Am Bolt (2016) / Documentary, Biography, Sport / The legacy of the fastest man in history, Usain Bolt.
I Am Not Your Negro (2016) / Documentary / Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
Imagine a Future (2013) / Documentary, Short / A documentary, which examines beauty and self-esteem issues that challenge black women and girls, and the story of Janet Goldsboro’s journey to discover that her black is beautiful.
Imitation of Life (1959) / Drama / An aspiring actress befriends a black widow, but trouble arises when the latter is rejected by her daughter, who tries to pass for white.
        
In the Heat of the Night (1967) / Crime, Drama, Mystery / An African-American police detective is asked to investigate a murder in a racially hostile southern town.
        
India Untouched: Stories of a People Apart (2007) / Documentary / This documentary is the most comprehensive look at the “untouchables” in India. Motivated by ancient religious edicts, no amount of governmental encouragement has been able to stem the tragic custom that separates human beings according to their birth. Those considered untouchable suffer more than isolation, they are forced to fulfill menial tasks in their communities, drink from separate containers, remove their shoes on the street as a sign of respect and perform or exhibit many other outward signs of their perceived inferiority. While the media projects a positive image of a democratic India, filmmaker Stalin K spends four years traveling the country to expose the continued oppression of the Dalits, “the broken people,” in a wide variety of communities, including Sikhs, Christians and Muslims.
        
Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) / Drama, History / The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
        
Jackie Brown (1997) / Crime, Drama, Thriller / A middle-aged woman finds herself in the middle of a huge conflict that will either make her a profit or cost her life.
        
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (2010) / Documentary / Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat’s own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.
        
Jimi Hendrix (1973) / Documentary, Biography, Music / This is a biography of Jimi Hendrix, the world famous guitarist who died in 1970 aged 27. Friends and prominent musicians Pete Townshend, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Buddy Miles comment on Jimi’s life and his influence on the rock music. Features recordings from concerts appearances, including “Hey Joe”, “Rock Me, Baby” and “Like a Rolling Stone” from the Monterey Pop Festival, and “The Star Spangled Banner” from Woodstock.
        
Joe Louis: America’s Hero… Betrayed (2008) / Documentary, Biography, Sport / An American story. Traces the career of Joe Louis (1914-1981) within the context of American racial consciousness: his difficulty getting big fights early in his career, the pride of African-Americans in his prowess, the shift of White sentiment toward Louis as Hitler came to power, Louis’s patriotism during World War II, and the hounding of Louis by the IRS for the following 15 years. In his last years, he’s a casino greeter, a drug user, and the occasional object of scorn for young Turks like Muhammad Ali. Appreciative comment comes from boxing scholars, Louis’s son Joe Jr., friends, and icons like Maya Angelou and Dick Gregory.
        
John Q (2002) / Crime, Drama, Thriller / John Quincy Archibald takes a hospital emergency room hostage when his insurance won’t cover his son’s heart transplant.
        
Journey of the Hyena (1973) / Touki-Bouki (original title) / Drama / Mory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind.
        
Jungle Fever (1991) / Drama, Romance / Friends and family of a married black architect react in different ways to his affair with an Italian secretary.
        
Just Mercy (2019) / Biography, Crime, Drama / World-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner.
Kati Kati (2016) / Drama / A young woman with no memory of her life or death, is helped with assimilation to the afterlife by a ghost.
Khaled (2001) / Drama / Adolescent Khaled lives with his drug-addict French-Canadian mother Monique in a Toronto tenement, his Moroccan father totally out of the picture. He is often bullied at school being a visible minority. He has lived in foster homes in the past, but both he and Monique cling to each other as the only family each has, and as Khaled had been abused in past foster homes. Monique has taught him to be suspect of authority as they believe any authority’s prime motivation is to separate them. This need to be together is despite Monique not being able to take care of him properly as witnessed by them living on canned soup and stolen frozen pizza. Khaled has had to grow up faster than he should as he largely takes care of Monique, who is often bedridden, and as he defends himself and another immigrant kid named Ivan against their bullies. It is because of all these factors in combination that Khaled, after his mother passes away one evening in their apartment, decides to hide the fact of her death so that he can try to make it on his own. Beyond not disposing the body, Khaled may become overwhelmed purely by doing whatever it takes to hide the fact of her death, let alone trying to take care of himself against all the obstacles.
Kiku to Isamu (1959) / Drama / Immediately after the Second World War, sister Kiku and brother Isamu, whose mother was a prostitute and the father was a GI, live with their grandmother in the country. Because their colour, hair is different from Japanese, they’d have a hard time, being bullied or treated like unusual creatures. Unfortunately, racism and some other issues such as being different still exist in Japan but the way Kiku portrayed was quite refreshing as she’s so strong and fighting against all those stupidity and cliché.
King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis (1970) / Documentary, Biography, History / Follows Martin Luther King’s life and decades long civil rights activism.
King In The Wilderness (2018) / Documentary / A look at the final years in the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) / Biography, Drama, Music / The story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
Lean on Me (1989) / Drama / The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school and he is determined to improve by any and all means.
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) / Biography, Drama / As Cecil Gaines serves eight presidents during his tenure as a butler at the White House, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other major events affect this man’s life, family, and American society.
Life on Earth (1998) / La vie sur terre (original title) / Comedy, Drama / In the last days of 1999, after a few shots of a French supermarket, abundant in food and color, we hear Dramane compose a letter home to his father in Mali whom he then visits in the village of Sokolo. He meets the lovely Nana, and there are possibilities. People place long-distance calls from the post office. “Reaching people,” says the postmaster, “is a matter of luck.” Contrasts between Paris and Sokolo – between Mali and France and between Africa and Europe – are underscored by voice-over poems and comments by Aimé Césaire. A man dictates a letter to a brother in France: what is the nature of their hardships? People look for their place on this earth.
Light Girls (2015) / Documentary / An in-depth look into the lives of light-skinned African-American women, the prejudices they face and the seemingly hierarchical nature of the society.
Light in the Shadows (2003) / Documentary / Light in the Shadows illustrates some of the difficulties and misunderstandings that can take place in conversations across lines of race, class, and culture. Often this conversation is uncomfortable and creates barriers between white women and women of color. While viewing this film many emotions may arise within in you and within your conversation partners; it is useful to “stay at the table” and struggle with the tough issues. This allows for deeper understanding to percolate and the development of greater skills at cross-cultural communication. 
Losing Isaiah (1995) / Drama / The natural and adoptive mothers of a young boy are involved in a bitter, controversial custody battle.
Lost Boundaries (1949) / Drama / This story is a true account of the lives of Scott and Marsha Carter. Having graduated from medical school, Scott Carter, a fair-skinned African American, marries Marsha Mitchell and moves to Georgia. When he arrives at the black clinic in Georgia, he discovers that the job must inconveniently go to a Southerner. Discussions between two nurses at this clinic suggest that Scott’s light skin may have some bearing on the decision not to hire him. Defeated but not conquered, Scott returns to Massachusetts to live with his in-laws until he can get employment. He tries unsuccessfully to obtain employment as an African American. Because Marsha is pregnant, Scott decides to take a job at Portsmouth Hospital, but he reluctantly does so as a white man. While there, he manages to save the life of Dr. Bracket, who encourages him to take a postion in Keenham, New Hampshire. Scott decides to continue “passing” for white. In Keenham, Dr. Scott Carter proves to be quite a success for the town. For twenty years, Dr. and Mrs. Carter live peacefully in Keenham with son, Howard and daughter, Shelley. All goes well until Scott and Howard decide to enter the military during World War II. When Scott applies for officer status with the Navy, an investigation reveals his black heritage, and he is barred from receiving a commission.
Love Field (1992) / Drama / When a woman en route to JFK’s funeral befriends a black man and his daughter, they experience numerous revelations and hardships.
Malcolm X (1972) / Documentary, Biography / James Earl Jones narrates this fascinating and moving documentary about the life of the assassinated black leader through various sources.
Malcolm X (1992) / Biography, Drama, History / Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam.
Mama Africa (2011) / Documentary, Biography, Music / Documentary about Miriam Makeba.
Mandela (1996) / Documentary, Biography, History / Follows Nelson Mandela, from his early protests against racial discrimination, to his election as South Africa’s first Democratically elected leader.
Marley (2012) / Documentary, Biography, Music / A documentary on the life, music, and legacy of Bob Marley.
Men of Honor (2000) / Biography, Drama / The story of Carl Brashear, the first African-American U.S. Navy Diver, and the man who trained him.
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019) / Documentary, Biography, Music / Miles Davis: Horn player, bandleader, innovator. This documentary feature explores archival photos and home movies shot by Miles and his colleagues, his manuscripts and Miles’ original paintings, to explore the man behind the music.
Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible (2006) / Documentary / Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible allows white people to find their own voice, and to reflect on their own experience and understanding. They hear from role models — other white people who have already committed themselves to racial justice.
Mississippi Masala (1991) / Drama, Romance / An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The Indian daughter falls in love with a black man, and the respective families have to come to terms with it.
Moana (2016) / Animation, Adventure, Comedy / In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the Demigod Maui reaches Moana’s island, she answers the Ocean’s call to seek out the Demigod to set things right.
Mully (2015) / Documentary / A homeless orphan in Kenya becomes a lucrative businessman, only to give it all up and open an orphanage that today serves over 2000 Kenyan children.
Nas: Time Is Illmatic (2014) / Documentary, Biography, History / Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film that delves deep into the making of Nas’ 1994 debut album, Illmatic, and the social conditions that influenced its creation. Twenty years after its release, Illmatic has become a hip-hop benchmark that encapsulates the socio-political outlook, enduring spirit, and collective angst of a generation of young black men searching for their voice in America.
Neshoba (2008) / Documentary / NESHOBA tells the story of a Mississippi town still divided about the meaning of justice, 40 years after the murders of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. Although Klansmen bragged openly about what they did in 1964, no one was held accountable until 2005, when the State indicted preacher Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old notorious racist and alleged mastermind of the killings. Through intimate interviews with the families of the victims, candid interviews with black and white Neshoba County Citizens, and exclusive, first time interviews with Killen, the film explores whether healing and reconciliation are possible without telling the unvarnished truth.
Nine from Little Rock (1964) / Documentary / The Arkansas school integration crisis and the changes wrought in subsequent years. This film profiles the lives of the nine African-American students who integrated Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the fall of 1957. The film documents the perspective of Jefferson Thomas and his fellow students seven years after their historic achievement. Central to this story is their quiet but brave entrance into Little Rock High, escorted by armed troops under the intense pressure of the on looking crowd. We learn firsthand their impressions of the past and present and their hopes for the future. Their selfless heroism broke the integration crisis and pioneered a new era. This film went on to win an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1964.
No Way Out (1950) / Crime, Drama, Film-Noir / A black doctor is assigned to treat two white racist suspects who are brothers, and when one dies, it causes tension that could start a race riot.
Nothing But a Man (1964) / Drama, Romance / A black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.
October 1 (2014) / Thriller / As Nigeria prepares for independence from the British in 1960, a seasoned police detective rushes to find the serial killer slaughtering its native young women.
Oh, Sun (1967) / Soleil Ô (original title) / Drama / A native of Mauritania is delighted when he is chosen to work in Paris. However, he is disappointed when he sees racial inequity as blacks are relegated to manual labor while less skilled whites are given preferential treatment.
One Potato, Two Potato (1964) / Drama / Study of interracial marriage in the 1960’s. A white divorcée falls in love with and marries an African-American man. When her ex-husband sues for custody of her child, arguing that a mixed household is an improper place to raise the girl, the new husband fights for his parental rights in court, fighting against a judge who represents the prejudices of the era.
Pariah (2011) / Drama / A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Paris Blues (1961) / Drama, Music, Romance / During the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
Pele Forever (2004) / Documentary / Documentary about Brazilian soccer genius, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pelé.
Pinky (1949) / Drama / A light-skinned black woman falls in love with a white doctor, though he is unaware of her true race.
Pride (2007) / Drama, Sport / The determined Jim Ellis starts a swim team for troubled teens at the Philadelphia Department of Recreation.
Prince Among Slaves (2007) / Documentary / In 1788 the slave ship Africa, set sail from West Africa and headed for America with its berth laden with a profitable but highly perishable cargo-hundreds of men, women and children bound in chains. Six months later the survivors were sold in Natchez, Mississippi. One of them, a 26-year-old man named Abdul-Rahman made a remarkable claim to the farmer who purchased him at the auction that he was an African prince and that his father would pay gold for his ransom. The offer was refused and Abdul-Rahman did not return to Africa for another 40 years. During his enslavement he toiled on the Foster plantation, married, and fathered nine children. His story also eventually made him the most famous African in America, attracting the support of powerful men such as President John Quincy Adams. After forty years of slavery, Abdul-Rahman finally reclaimed his freedom, but he defied the order to return immediately to Africa, and instead traveled throughout the northern states, speaking to huge audiences in a partially successful attempt to raise enough money to buy his children’s freedom. Finally at the age of 67, and after raising funds to free two of his children, Abdul-Rahman returned to Africa, only to fall ill and die just as word of his arrival reached his former home of Futa Jalloo in present-day Guinea. Abdul-Rahman survived the harsh ordeals of slavery through his love of family and his deep faith as a Muslim.
Queen of Katwe (2016) / Biography, Drama, Sport / A Ugandan girl sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess.
        
Quincy (2018) / Documentary, Biography / An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America.
        
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) / Adventure, Biography, Drama / In 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
        
Rafiki (2018) / Drama, Romance / “Good Kenyan girls become good Kenyan wives,” but Kena and Ziki long for something more. When love blossoms between them, the two girls will be forced to choose between happiness and safety.
        
Ragtime (1981) / Drama / A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.
        
Ray (2004) / Biography, Drama, Music / The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
        
Reel Injun (2009) / Documentary, Western / The history of the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films.
        
Remember the Titans (2000) / Biography, Drama, Sport / The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.
        
Roots (1977) / Biography, Drama, History / A dramatization of author Alex Haley’s family line from ancestor Kunta Kinte’s enslavement to his descendants’ liberation.
        
Rosewood (1997) / Action, Drama, History  / A dramatization of a 1923 horrific racist lynch mob attack on an African-American community.
     
Ruby Bridges (1998) / Adventure, Drama, Family / When six-year-old Ruby is chosen to be the first African-American to integrate her local elementary school, she is subjected to the true ugliness of racism for the first time.
        
Salute (2008) / Documentary, Sport / The black power salute at the 1968 Mexico Olympics was an iconic moment in the US civil rights movement. Learn more about the price these athletes had to pay for standing up for their beliefs.
        
Salt of the Earth (1954) / Drama, History / Mexican workers at a Zinc mine call a general strike. It is only through the solidarity of the workers, and importantly the indomitable resolve of their wives, mothers and daughters, that they eventually triumph.
        
Sankofa (1993) / Drama / A self-absorbed Black American fashion model on a photo shoot in Africa is spiritually transported back to a plantation in the West Indies where she experiences first-hand the physical and psychic horrors of chattel slavery, and eventually the redemptive power of community and rebellion as she becomes a member of a freedom-seeking Maroon colony.
        
Sarraounia (1986) / Drama, History, War / On January 2 1899, starting from the French Soudan, a french column under the commandment of the captains Voulet and Chanoine is send against the black Sultan Rabah in what is now the Cameroun. Those captains and their african mercenary troops destroy and kill everything they find on their path. The French autority try to stop them sending orders and a second troop but the captains even kill the emissaries who are reaching them. Sarraounia, queen of the Aznas, have heared about the exactions. Clever in war tactics and in witchcraft, she decides to resist and stop those mad men.
        
Say Amen, Somebody (1982) / Documentary, Music / Documentary about the American gospel music scene, focusing on two of the movement’s pioneering forces, Thomas A. Dorsey and Willie May Ford Smith.
        
School Daze (1988) / Comedy, Drama, Musical / A not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.
        
Scratch (2001) / Documentary, Music / The story of the hip-hop DJ from the birth of hip-hop to the invention of scratching and “beat-juggling” vinyl, to the more recent “turntablism” movement. Underdogs and virtuosos who have radically changed the way we hear and create music.
        
Selma (2014) / Biography, Drama, History / A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
Sergeant Rutledge (1960) / Crime, Western / Respected black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.
76 The Movie (2016) / Drama,  History / Hype has been building for several years around this forthcoming historical fiction, which focuses on the 1976 coup during which Nigeria’s then-military ruler, Murtala Mohammed, was assassinated. The story is told from two perspectives: a soldier accused of involvement in the coup and his heavily pregnant wife who is left alone while her husband is interrogated. Starring award-winning Nigerian actor Ramsey Nouah, the film went through a seven-month-long approval period with the Nigerian military before production started.
        
Shadeism (2010) / Documentary / This film by Nayani Thiyagarajah, Brian Han, Leanne McAdams, Derek Rider, and Vanessa Rodrigues addresses the topic of shadeism, which the filmmakers describe as “the discrimination that exists between the lighter-skinned and darker-skinned members of the same community. This documentary short looks specifically at how it affects young womyn within the African, Caribbean, and South Asian diasporas.”  Through the testimony of five women and one little girl, the film explores a number of issues surrounding shadeism, including the practice of skin bleaching, media representation, the legacy of colonialism, and resistance to shadeism through hip hop culture. At about twenty minutes in length, the film is unable to explore any of its topics with any real depth but works well as a means of setting up a discussion on shadeism. In particular, the film might be a nice way for instructors based in the United States to engage students in a discussion about racial logics operating elsewhere.
Shadows (1958) / Drama, Romance / Cassavetes’ jazz-scored improvisational film explores interracial friendships and relationships in Beat-Era (1950s) New York City.
Shaft (1971) / Action, Crime, Thriller / Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Shaft (2019) / Action, Comedy, Crime / JJ Shaft, a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, enlists his family’s help to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s untimely death.
Shaft’s Big Score! (1972) / Action, Crime, Drama / Shaft is back to find the murderer of an old friend on the cold hard city streets with a little help from his new friends.
        
Shaft in Africa (1973) / Action, Adventure, Crime / Private investigator John Shaft is recruited to go undercover to break up a modern slavery ring where young Africans are lured to Paris to do chain-gang work.
        
Skin (2008) / Biography, Drama / Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.
Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012) / Documentary, Music / A documentary on rap music and its rise to global prominence.
Something New (2006) / Comedy, Drama, Romance / Kenya McQueen, an accountant finds love in the most unexpected place when she agrees to go on a blind date with Brian Kelly, a sexy and free-spirited landscaper.
Sounder (1972) / Drama, Family / The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.
Stand and Deliver (1988) / Biography, Drama / The story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout prone students to learn calculus.
Steel Toes (2007) / Crime, Drama / In Montréal, Michael Downey is accused of the brutal beating of Vikram, a South Asian man who eventually succumbed to his injuries. The authorities believe it was a racially motivated beating as Mike is a neo-Nazi white supremacist skinhead. The public defendant assigned to his case is Danny Dunkelman, a Jew. Mike and Danny don’t like what the other represents, but Mike knows that a person like Danny can only help his cause, while liberal Danny’s conscience won’t allow Mike, who he sees as an otherwise intelligent young man, go through the process without fair representation. As Danny and Mike go through their defense, Danny forces Mike to be an active participant in truly understanding what he did and why he did it. As such, Danny hopes to be a part of Mike’s redemption. The case also profoundly affects Danny’s personal life, not only in his outward relationships with family and friends, but how he functions within society as a human being.
Still a Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class (1968) / Documentary / The title of the NET produced film comes from Urban League administrator Horace Morris, who said no matter how high a black advances into mainstream society and the middle class, he’s “still a brother” to the oppressive, prejudiced whites.
        
Supa Modo (2018) / Drama / Story of a young girl whose dream of becoming a superhero is threatened by terminal illness, inspiring her village to rally together to make her dream come true.
        
10,000 Black Men Named George (2002) / Drama / Union activist Asa Philip Randolph’s efforts to organize the black porters of the Pullman Rail Company in 1920s America.
        
Teza (2008) / Drama / The Ethiopian intellectual Anberber returns to his native country during the repressive totalitarian regime of Haile Mariam Mengistu and the recognition of his own displacement and powerlessness at the dissolution of his people’s humanity and social values. After several years spent studying medicine in Germany, he finds the country of his youth replaced by turmoil. His dream of using his craft to improve the health of Ethiopians is squashed by a military junta that uses scientists for its own political ends. Seeking the comfort of his countryside home, Anberber finds no refuge from violence. The solace that the memories of his youth provide is quickly replaced by the competing forces of military and rebelling factions. Anberber needs to decide whether he wants to bear the strain or piece together a life from the fragments that lie around him.
        
The Black Godfather (2019) / Documentary / Follows the life of Clarence Avant, the ultimate, uncensored mentor and behind-the-scenes rainmaker in music, film, TV and politics.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (2015) / Documentary, History / This documentary tells the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, one of the 20th century’s most alluring and controversial organizations that captivated the world’s attention for nearly 50 years.
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011) / Documentary, History / Footage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.
        
The Boys from Brazil (1978) / Drama, Mystery, Thriller / A Nazi hunter in Paraguay discovers a sinister and bizarre plot to rekindle the Third Reich.
The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in American Cinema (2002) / Documentary, History / Documentary about the presence of Latin American culture and actors in American movies.
The Color of Friendship (2000) / Biography, Drama, Family / A white South African girl finds herself in a difficult situation when she is sent to spend a term with a black family in America.
The Color Purple (1985) / Drama / A black Southern woman struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over four decades.
The Cotton Club (1984) / Crime, Drama, Music / Meet the jazz musicians, dancers, owner and guests (e.g. gangster Dutch Schultz) of The Cotton Club in 1928-30s Harlem.
The Defiant Ones (1958) / Crime, Drama / Two escaped convicts chained together, white and black, must learn to get along in order to elude capture.
The Express (2008) / Biography, Drama, Sport / A drama based on the life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.
The Great Debaters (2007) / Biography, Drama, Romance / A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
The Great White Hope (1970) / Drama, Romance, Sport / A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom (2019) / Documentary, History / A deeper look into the real story of Victor H. Green’s “The Negro Motorist Green Book” during the Jim Crow era and beyond.
The Hate U Give (2018) / Crime, Drama / Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Now, facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.
        
The Help (2011) / Drama / An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids’ point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
        
The Hurricane (1999) / Biography, Drama, Sport / The story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
The Intruder (1962) / Drama / A man in a gleaming white suit comes to a small Southern town on the eve of integration. He calls himself a social reformer. But what he does is stir up trouble–trouble he soon finds he can’t control.
The Long Walk Home (1990) / Drama, History / Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott lead by Martin Luther King.
The Loving Story (2011) / Documentary, Drama, History / A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Richard and Mildred Loving, set during the turbulent Civil Rights era. Long Way Home: The Loving Story is a story of love and the struggle for dignity set against a backdrop of historic anti-miscegenation sentiments in the U.S. The Lovings, an interracial couple, fell in love and married at a critical time in American history, and, because of a confluence of social and political turmoil our reluctant heroes bring about change where previously no one else could. They are paired with two young and ambitious lawyers who are driven to pave the way for Civil Rights and social justice through an historic Supreme Court ruling, changing the country’s story forever.
The Marcus Garvey Story (2019) / Biography / Story based on the life and death of Marcus Garvey.
The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) / Documentary, Biography, Crime / Fred Hampton was the leader of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. This film depicts his brutal murder by the Chicago police and its subsequent investigation, but also documents his activities in organizing the Chapter, his public speeches, and the programs he founded for children during the last eighteen months of his life.
        
The Secret Life of Bees (2008) / Drama / In 1964, a teenage girl in search of the truth about her mother runs away to a small town in South Carolina and finds a family of independent women who can connect her to her past.
        
Selma, Lord, Selma (1999) / Drama, Historical Drama / Selma, Lord, Selma is a 1999 American made-for-television biographical drama film based on true events that happened in March 1965, known as Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. The film tells the story through the eyes of an 11-year-old African-American girl named Sheyann Webb.
        
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) / Drama / Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
        
The Skin Quilt Project (2010) / Documentary, History / A documentary that explores colorism (in the African-American community) through the stories of African-American quilters, and the art-form passed down through generations to celebrate its culture.
        
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) / Action, Drama, Crime / A black man plays Uncle Tom in order to gain access to CIA training, then uses that knowledge to plot a new American Revolution.
        
The Story of a Three-Day Pass (1968) / Drama, Romance / A black American soldier is demoted for fraternizing with a white girl in France.
The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) / Drama, History, War / The true story of how a group of African American pilots overcame racist opposition to become one of the finest US fighter groups in World War II.
        
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till (2005) / Documentary, Biography / Never-before-seen testimony is included in this documentary on Emmett Louis Till, who, in 1955, was brutally murdered after he whistled at a white woman.
        
The Way Home: Women Talk About Race in America (1998) / Documentary / Over the course of eight months, sixty-four women representing a cross-section of cultures (Indigenous, African-American, Arab, Asian, European-American, Jewish, Latina, and Multiracial) came together to share their experience of racism in America.
        
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser (1988) / Documentary, Biography, Music / A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
        
13th (2016) / Documentary, Crime, News / An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality.
        
This Is England (2006) / Crime, Drama / A young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.
        
Time: The Kalief Browder Story (2017) / Documentary, Biography / After his arrest at age 16, Kalief Browder fought the system and prevailed, despite unthinkable circumstances. He became an American hero.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) / Crime, Drama / Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his children against prejudice.
To Sir, with Love (1967) / Drama / Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London’s East End.
12 Years a Slave (2013) / Biography, Drama, History / In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004) / Documentary, Biography, Sport / The story of Jack Johnson, the first African-American Heavyweight boxing champion.
Watu Wote: All of Us (2017) / Short, Drama / For a decade Kenya has been targeted by terrorist attacks of the Al-Shabaab. An atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust between Muslims and Christians is growing. Until in December 2015, Muslim bus passengers showed that solidarity can prevail.
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015) / Documentary, Biography, Music / A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the “High Priestess of Soul.”
What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali (2019) / Documentary, Biography, Sport / One of the most iconic figures in athletic history, Muhammad Ali’s incredible story from world champion boxer to inspiring social activist is explored through his own voice and never-before-seen archival material.
When the Moors Ruled in Europe (2005) / Documentary / This program contends that the popular perception of the Muslim occupation of Spain toward the end of the first millennium is largely wrong. The eighth century Muslim invasion of the Iberian Pennisula was largely welcomed by the locals and rejuvenated the area with advanced technology, agriculture and a construction boom. This program describes these innovations. All this changed in the eleventh century when the regional government fragmented. That set the stage for the Christian invasion and the Islamic fundamentalist resistance leading to more of a civil war than a holy war that decimated the region with corruption, destruction and exile.
When We Were Kings (1996) / Documentary, Sport / A documentary of the 1974 heavyweight championship bout in Zaire, “The Rumble in the Jungle,” between champion George Foreman and underdog challenger Muhammad Ali.
        
White Dog (1982) / Drama, Horror / A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that’s been raised to attack black people.
        
Whitewash (1994) / Animation, Short, Family / A little black girl learns about racism.
        
Wild Style (1983) / Drama, Music / Zoro, the city’s hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro’s passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose. But this isn’t why one watches Wild Style–this movie is *the* classic hip-hop flick, full of great subway shots, breakdancing, freestyle MCing and rare footage of one of the godfathers of hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash, pulling off an awesome scratch-mix set on a pair of ancient turntables. A must-see for anyone interested in hip-hop music and culture.
Xala (1975) / Comedy, Drama / A corrupt politician is cursed with impotence on the night of his third wedding after embezzling 100 tons of rice.
Yellow Fever (2012) / Documentary, Animation, Short / Through memories and interviews with my family, Yellow Fever reflects on the effect globalization is having on the African woman’s understanding of beauty.
Zebrahead (1992) / Drama, Romance / A white, hip-hop loving teen falls in love with a black girl.