African-American
Aya of Yop City
Against the colorful and spirited backdrop of the Ivory Coast in the 1970s, Aya of Yop City is a vibrant, beautifully animated film. From teen romance to parental tribulations, it offers a rare glimpse into the daily lives of Africans, and is adapted from a best-selling series of graphic novels.
The Changin' Times of Ike White
Serving a life sentence for murder in the early 1970s, music prodigy Ike White had plenty of time to perfect his musical talent, but no hope of putting it to use in the outside world. Ike's skills were exceptional enough, though, that his story captured the media's attention. From this notoriety, he…
Clockers
A “clocker” is a 24-hour drug dealer, and Strike is the hardest-working one on the streets. But for Strike, time is running out. When the local drug kingpin tips Strike off about an opportunity for advancement, a rival dealer ends up dead, and Strike suddenly finds himself caught between…
Crooklyn
Semi-autobiographical portrait of a school teacher, her stubborn jazz musician husband and their five kids living in Brooklyn in 1973.
Fela Kuti: "Music is the Weapon"
Shot in Lagos at the peak of his career in 1982, this documentary contains interviews with Fela detailing his thoughts on politics, Pan-Africanism, music and religion. For all who wish to know more about an artist at the heart of African musical history, FELA KUTI: MUSIC IS THE WEAPON is an essentia…
Finding Fela
Directed by Alex Gibney, this is the story of Fela Anikulapo Kuti's life, his music, his social and political importance and how his impact transformed the life of many Nigerians and rights activists throughout the world.
Flex is Kings
Flex is Kings is a riveting and awe-inspiring look inside the world of Brooklyn street dancing known as flexing. Directors Michael Beach Nichols and Deidre Schoo take audiences along on the emotional journey of several young dancers; dancers who vie for a chance to make something of themselves by ba…
Ganja & Hess
Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and horror, Bill Gunn’s revolutionary independent film Ganja & Hess is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity.
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
A look at the life of poet, Nikki Giovanni and the revolutionary historical periods through which she lived, from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter.
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami
This electrifying journey through the public and private worlds of pop culture mega-icon Grace Jones contrasts musical sequences with intimate personal footage, all the while brimming with Jones’s bold aesthetic.
Jungle Fever
African American architect Flipper Purify begins an affair with his working-class Italian American secretary, Angie Tucci, which causes them to be scrutinized by their friends, cast out from their families and shunned by their neighbors.
King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis
King: A Filmed Record...from Montgomery to Memphis is the landmark 3-hr documentary that chronicles the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama, and culminating with his assassination in Memphis in 1968. Academy Award nomi…
Liberty Kid
LIBERTY KID captures with compassion and street-smart humor the spirit and pain of America transformed by 9-11. Two young friends struggle to survive after losing their jobs at the Statue of Liberty tourist site due to 9/11. Director Ulya Chaiken "makes us feel for her characters" (NY Post), and evo…
Lost in the Stars
Lost in the Stars transforms Alan Paton's world-famous novel of racial oppression, Cry the Beloved Country, into a tragic and beautiful film musical unlike any you've ever seen. Gilded by Maxwell Anderson's lucid lyrics and Kurt Weill's (The Three Penny Opera) powerful music, and guided by Daniel Ma…
Mo' Better Blues
A talented trumpeter has to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend and finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
NAS: Time Is Illmatic
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, en…
Personal Problems
This entirely African American-conceived and produced ensemble drama is the result of a collaboration of a pair of pioneering Black artists: writer Ishmael Reed and filmmaker Bill Gunn, who wrote and directed the underground classic Ganja & Hess and wrote the screenplay for Hal Ashby's The …
Pioneers of African-American Cinema
A monumental collection of historically vital films, digitally mastered in HD using archival elements. This collection of the works of America's legendary first African-American filmmakers is the only one of its kind with no fewer than a dozen feature-length films and nearly twice as many shorts and…
STOP
STOP places the stop and frisk controversy in the context of a long history of civil rights, with profound implications for today's criminal justice system.
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous novelization of the harsh realities of slavery was a catalyst for the anti-slavery movement and remains a landmark in American literature. Seen today, the sincerity of director Harry Pollard's handsomely produced 1927 drama outweigh the conventions of its story. All to…
The Wound
Brimming with sex and violence, John Trengove’s award-winning film is an exploration of tradition and sexuality set amid South Africa’s Xhosa culture.