Daughters of the Dust

Much of my insight into black lives and culture has come from writers, such as WEB Dubois, Richard Wright, August Wilson, and Ann Petry, but I have also gotten schooled by many remarkable films about black experience and black lives, in the United States and elsewhere. Here’s a list of seven Black films I highly recommend.

 

Superfly

I would be remiss in my blogging duties if I didn’t include at least one of the Black Action Films from the Golden Era of big hats, town cars, and fur coats. The story of a high end drug dealer looking to get out of the game by making a deal so big he can retire. One of the better films of the “blaxploitation” genre, a film that was criticized as a sensationalist and racist take of black culture at the same time it was also praised for being a story of black independence and defiance. Much of the story takes a realistic look at the life of a drug dealer, passing by some of the more sensationalist movie takes on drug culture, but then it wraps up with a dramatic face off as the main character stands up to “The Man”! However you want to interpret it, if you only see one of these genre films, make it this one. Music by Curtis Mayfield is a definite bonus!

FYI: Not as kitschy as the trailer makes it out to be.

Superfly on IMDB

 

Malcolm X

When I read the autobiography of Malcolm X I was shocked to find out he used to be a thief, a drug dealer, and a general hustler. One of the most remarkable and transformative lives in American History is translated into this film where Spike Lee tried as much as possible to remain true to the book.

When I heard Denzel Washington had been chosen as the lead I groaned. I thought Washington was an overrated mimbo and a terrible choice for such an iconic role. (At the time he had not done anything very remarkable, as far as I remember.) I totally ate my words when I saw this movie. No one could have done a better job in portraying this powerful and iconic American figure.

From very pointed and personal stories of a black man of the street living in a racist America, to rising up to the struggles and maneuvering of national power and politics, this movie strikes through all levels of American life by relating the fantastic story of Malcolm X. No other film on this list goes through all of those realms and shows them in such great detail, and it does it by simply following one of the most fantastic lives in American history.

If you haven’t seen this film then turn in your Cinephile card.

Malcolm X on IMDB

 

A Soldiers Story

This is a film that could occupy two other categories: Best military film or best court film, though there is no combat in this movie and there are no court scenes. An adaption of a powerful play that takes place during the Second World War, Captain Davenport arrives at a base to investigate the murder of a sergeant, a black man running a black squad. (US military personnel were segregated back during the World War II era.) This story is not just about a murder mystery, but also a story about the collisions of black culture and identity, culture complexity and controversy, the kind that still takes place even to this day. An excellent film with stellar performances by Howard Rollins Jr as Captain Davenport, Adolph Caeser as Seregeant Waters, and Larry Riley as CJ Memphis. A must see movie!

A Soldiers Story on IMDB

 

The Last Black Man in San Francisco

I pretty much had a good idea what kind of film it was going to be before I saw it, and I found out that all of my preconceptions and assumptions were wrong. I was surprised and captivated by the dynamic, rich, and complex story that follows the story of Jimmie Falls, a San Francisco native being forced out to the edges along with his friends and family, a story that not only tackles the issue of race, but also takes a sharp look at class systems in America that affect everyone, something that few films have been able to do as well as this one does. The complexity of the characters and the stories go far beyond the kind of tropes you would expect from such a film. It is one of the best films I’ve seen in years and I cannot recommend it enough.

This film is also the only film on this list not to have been made by a black filmmaker. When I saw the film I had assumed the filmmaker was a down-with-the-street black man, but I was surprised to find out that writer and director Joe Talbot is a white man, so including this as a “black” film could be considered controversial. Talbot did base the story on his lifelong friend Jimmie Fails who stars in the film.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco on IMDB

 

Black is… Black ain’t

Using his grandmother’s gumbo as a metaphor, filmmaker Marlon Riggs, (of Tongues Untied fame,) gives us a documentary about the black expereince in America and the complexity of black american culture. So many cultural references to “black people” address an entire ethnicity as if it were one homogeneous mass, but it just isn’t that simple. Black America is a maze of religions, regions, traditions, and classes, and Riggs examines all of these aspects as he puts a lens of the various cultures of Black America that tears through preconceptions, stereotypes, and prejudicial thinking about that “Black thing”. He doesn’t pull punches either, examining prejudicial proclivities within black America. (“Too black” and “Not black enough”, for example.) Angela Davis, Bell Hooks, and Cornell West are just some of the people in this film who talk about the wide range of experiences and cultures within Black American society in a film that is just as relevant today as when it came out.

Marlon Riggs passed on from complications due to AIDS during the filming of this documentary, but his production team made sure the film was completed. One of the more powerful documentaries you will ever see.

Black is… Black ain’t on IMDB

 

Mapantsula

This film came out during a time when there were a spate of films about the subject of Apartheid in South Africa and the struggles against the racist state, but ironically many of those films featured white leads or white perspectives, or they followed the trails and struggles of prominent anti-apartheid activists who had invested their lives in political struggle. The only film on apartheid I’ve ever seen that features a character who was none of these, a character who was a man of the street, someone who was concerned more with his next score than fighting government oppression. This films follows Johannes ‘Panic’ Themba Mzolo, a hustler in South Africa who faces Apartheid at a very personal level, especially when he is arrested and detained by the police, and shows the transformation of a basic ne’er do well who becomes a man who finds himself defying a racist system, not because of personal noble ideals and high minded appeals to reason, but because of his direct personal experiences with the system, as one of the people most affected by the systematic racism of the government and culture of Apartheid South Africa.

Mapantsula on IMDB

 

Daughters of the Dust

A film by Julie Dash, it is a period piece at the dawn of the 20th Century showing a community in the post slavery era on an island off of the coast of South Carolina, where the people struggle with their recent past, their current present, and their potential futures. Many of the characters embrace or disdain their Yoruba traditions and heritage, showing people and a community who struggle with cultural crossroads as much as they struggle with everyday life. A rich film showing a people whose lives are a collision of history, generations, and the calamities of recent struggles, and also a very distinct tale about how history can influence and shape a individual’s very identity. This movie is a gem you might well have missed. It is definitely worth seeking out.

FYI: The only film on this list made by a black woman.

Daughters of the Dust on IMDB