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Afro-American Film Festival
Page Three
| back on page one:
short history books filmmakers links | ![movie poster for "T.N.T. Jackson" [1975]](images/pTNTjackson-big.jpg "movie poster for \"T.N.T. Jackson\" [1975]") | here on page three:
selected films & TV silents to sound to 1939
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This webpage was built without racist beliefs or intent. You will notice that anything
seeming to be racist herein was filmed or written by others 50 to 100 years ago.
Selected Films & TV
African American Cinema Bestsellers on DVD at Amazon
Blaxploitation Movies poster catalog at AllPosters.com
"A Fool and His Money" [Solax Oct 1912]
the first-known all-black-cast film; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché [1873-1968] • credits at IMDb
available with six other restored early silent one-reelers on the "Seven Silent Films: Lost For A Century" DVD
American Media Intl. b&w silent DVD [8/2012] for $19.99
"The Birth of A Race"
[Frohman Amusement Corp. Dec 1918 silent]
Considered a response to the racism in "The Birth of A Nation" [1915], only ten minutes of film exist today.
Co-written & directed by John W. Noble; considered a lost film • credits at IMDb
"Within Our Gates" [1920 silent] by Oscar Micheaux
Another response to "The Birth of A Nation" [1915], notably, the reversal of a key
Griffith scene by depicting a white man assaulting a black woman.
"The Scar of Shame" [1927 silent] /tt0018362/
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" silent feature
[Universal Pictures Nov 1927]
 | Based on the 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe novel; one of the most expensive silent films ever made; the stereotypes and Victorian melodrama are counter-balanced by many moving moments and nail-biting action sequences, especially Eliza's escape across the ice floes. Kino's restoration includes a new recording of the original Movietone orchestral score. Presented by Carl Laemmle; co-produced & directed by Harry A. Pollard; starring Margarita Fischer, James B. Lowe, Arthur Edmund Carewe, George Siegmann, Eulalie Jensen, Mona Ray & Virginia Grey
Kino Video b&w DVD [11/99] out of prodn/used Kino Intl. b&w VHS [11/99] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb |
"Hallelujah !" musical feature [M.G.M. Aug 1929]
 | Vidor's first sound film, and the second Hollywood feature film with an all-black cast. An Afro-American sharecropper falls for a beautiful dancer at the local juke joint, and is fleeced in a crooked crap game. When his brother is killed in an ensuing gunfight, the sharecropper must flee, only to return disguised as a charismatic preacher. Co-written & directed by King Vidor; starring Daniel L. Haynes, Nina Mae McKinney, William Fountaine, Harry Gray, Fanny Belle DeKnight, Everett McGarrity, Victoria Spivey & the Dixie Jubilee Singers; Oscar nom for Best Director
Warner Home Video b&w DVD [1/2006] for $17.99 M.G.M. b&w VHS [9/98] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb 11"x17" poster available at AllPosters.com |
"Hellbound Train" [1930] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301394/
"Check and Double Check" [1930] starring Amos 'n Andy, with Duke Ellington & orchestra
"The Emperor Jones" [1933] with Paul Robeson
"Porgy and Bess" [1935]
"Song of Freedom" [1936] with Paul Robeson
"The Green Pastures" [1936]
"Big Fella" [1937] with Paul Robeson
"Dark Manhattan" [1937] starring Ralph Cooper /tt0028768/
"The Duke Is Tops" [1938 musical] starring Ralph Cooper & Lena Horne
"Two Gun Man From Harlem" [1938]
starring Herb Jeffries, Mantan Moreland, Spencer Williams & Matthew 'Stymie' Beard
"Moon Over Harlem" [1939]
"The Bronze Buckaroo" [S.A.E. 1939] with Herb Jeffries & Spencer Williams
"Harlem Rides The Range" [1939] with Herb Jeffries & Spencer Williams
"Paradise In Harlem" [1939] starring Frank H. Wilson
"Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs"
[Warner/Vitaphone Jan 1943]
 |
Yup, there was such a film, and it was made & released by a major studio. In its time, it was considered a funny parody on the "Snow White" feature film released by Disney in 1937, but in later years has become offensive to many. Banned for release by United Artists in 1968; rarely seen on TV and not released on home video. The color short has a reputation for excellence, for the animation as well as for the jazz & swing music score.
Produced by Leon Schlesinger; directed by Bob Clampett
still unavailable on DVD; 7:43 version on YouTube • 7:33 version on YouTube full credits from IMDb • cartoon entry at Wikipedia • cartoon entry at Big Cartoon Database |
"Cabin In The Sky" [1943] directed by VMinnelli
"Stormy Weather" [1943]
"Beware" [1946 musical] starring Louis Jordan
Disney's "Song of The South" [R.K.O. Radio Pictures Nov 1946]
Disney has forbidden the theatrical or video re-release of its classic film "Song of The South" since 1986.
  | The young son of plantation owners avoids his fellow white kids and prefers to listen to stories told by the former slave Uncle Remus; deft combination of live action and animation, loaded with songs; Disney has refused to re-release VHS or DVD or Blu-ray since the November 1986 theatrical re-release; the DVD available here from a third party vendor includes recently-improved 1946 full movie, two trailers, and other bonus material
Mayan Castle color DVD [version 2.0] for $14.95 + $3.95 s/h Filmed in Technicolor; produced by Walt Disney & Perce Pearce; live action directed by Harve Foster, anima-tion directed by Wilfred Jackson; story by Dalton Reymond; cinematography by Gregg Toland; starring James Baskett {as Uncle Remus & Br'er Fox}, Bobby Driscoll, Luana Patten, Johnnie Lee, Glenn Leeds, Ruth Warrick, Lucile Watson, Hattie McDaniel full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia watch official trailers online at YouTube: 1972 trailer [2:10] • 1986 trailer [1:10] watch truncated movie [10/2015 upload; 1:09:36] online at YouTube |
 | "Who's Afraid of The Song of The South? and Other Forbidden Disney Stories" [2012] by Jim Korkis, Foreword by Floyd Norman other topics include: L. Frank Baum & 'Oz'; Tim Burton; 'John Carter on Mars'; J. Edgar Hoover; Ward Kimball; Jessica Rabbit; and Mickey Rooney Kindle Edition from Theme Park Press [11/2012] for $5.99 Theme Park Press 8½x5½ pb [12/2012] for $16.25 |
more details (synopsis, books & ebooks, links, posters, vinyl recordings, fansites) on
Spirit of America Bookstore's 'Uncle Remus Tales by Joel Chandler Harris' Page
"Hi-De-Ho" [1947 musical] starring Cab Calloway
"Reet, Petite & Gone" [1947] starring Louis Jordan
"Look Out Sister" [1947 musical Western] by Louis Jordan
"Killer Diller" [1948] with Nat 'King' Cole & Moms Mabley
"Intruder In The Dust" feature film [M.G.M. Nov 1949]
 | Filmed on location in Oxford, Mississippi; a black man is found holding a smoking gun and standing next to the body of a white man, and is assumed guilty. The town's most prominent lawyer refuses to take the case for the man's defense, until a boy once helped by the defendent hears about plans for a lynching and pleads with the lawyer to defend the man in court. Directed by Clarence Brown; adapted by Ben Maddow from Faulkner's 1948 novel; starring David Brian, Claude Jarman Jr., Juano Hernandez, Porter Hall, Elizabeth Patterson, Charles Kemper & Will Geer; won BAFTA U.N. Award
not available on DVD • MGM/Warner b&w VHS [9/98] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb • watch full movie [4/2015 upload; 1:27:00] online at YouTube |
 | "Intruder In The Dust" novel [Random House 1948] by William Faulkner [1897-1962]
Vintage 8x5¼ pb [10/91] for $11.16 Vintage mass pb [6/72] out of print/many,many used Random House hardcover [9/48] for $11.16 book entry at Wikipedia "Faulkner's Intruder In The Dust: Novel Into Film" [1977] |
"The Jackie Robinson Story" [1950]
"The Beulah Show" [1950 TV series] /tt0042081/
Many of the 87 episodes of "Beulah" were destroyed shortly after the series was cancelled,
but a few have survived.
http://www.archive.org/details/Beulah_3
"Yes Sir, Mr. Bones" about minstrel shows [Lippert Pictures July 1951] /tt0044222/
featuring Pete Daily's Chicagoans band & Scatman Crothers
"The Amos & Andy Show" [1951-53 TV series]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043175/
Preminger's "Carmen Jones" [1954]
"Rhythm and Blues Revue" [1955] with Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Nat 'King' Cole, Lionel
Hampton, Herb Jeffries, Mantan Moreland, Big Joe Turner, Sarah Vaughan, many others
"Rock n' Roll Revue" [1955] with Nat 'King' Cole, Duke Ellington,
Lionel Hampton, Big Joe Turner, Dinah Washington, many others
"The Defiant Ones" [1958] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051525/
"St. Louis Blues" [1958]
"Anna Lucasta" [1959] starring Eartha Kitt /tt0051362/
"Sergeant Rutledge" [1960]
Directed by John Ford; starring Jeffrey Hunter & Woody Strode; full credits from IMDb
"A Raisin In The Sun" [1961] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055353/
http://www.amazon.com/Raisin-Sun-Sean-Combs/dp/B0013D8LNG/
"A Raisin in the Sun" [1989 TV remake] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098166/
"A Raisin in the Sun" [2008 TV remake] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808435/
"Lilies of The Field" [1963] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057251/
"Black Like Me" [1964] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057889/
"Nothing But A Man" [1964] by Michael Roemer
 |
"In The Heat of The Night" [United Artists 1967]
full credits from IMDb |
"Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" [1967] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061735/
"The Great White Hope" [1970]
"They Call Me Mister Tibbs!" [1970] sequel to "In The Heat of The Night" [1967]
"Cotton Comes To Harlem" [1970] directed by Ossie Davis
"The Organization" [1971] sequel to "In The Heat of The Night" [1967]
"Shaft" [1971] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067741/
"Black Jesus" [1971] feature film starring Woody Strode
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005U12B
"Shaft's Big Score" sequel [1972]
 |
"Cool Breeze" [M.G.M. March 1972]
A group of Afro-American criminals meet in Los Angeles to rob a bank. Written & directed by Barry Pollack; based on the 1949 novel "Asphalt Jungle" by W.R. Burnett [1899-1982]; starring Thalmus Rasulala, Judy Pace, Jim Watkins, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Sam Laws, Margaret Avery, Pam Grier, Stack Pierce & Raymond St. Jacques video/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb |
"Buck and The Preacher" [1972]
"Slaughter" [1972] starring Jim Brown
"Hammer" [1972} starring Fred Williamson
"Trouble Man" [1972] starring Robert Hooks
"Across 110th Street" [1972]
"Blacula" [1972]
"Super Fly" [1972]
"Malcolm X" [1972] based on the Alex Haley book /tt0068903/
"Lady Sings The Blues" [1972] with Diana Ross /tt0068828/
"The Legend of N*gger Charlie" Western [1972] shot in New Mexico
"Cleopatra Jones" [1973]
"Wattstax" concert documentary
[Stax/Wolper/Columbia Feb 1973]
 |
Stax Records of Memphis, Tennessee held a concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum on 20 August 1972, to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Watts Riots; tickets were $1.00 each, and more than 100,000 people attended the 7-hour event. The 98-minute movie was released nationally by Columbia Pictures in February 1973, in which concert footage is intercut with scenes of black history, montages of urban life, and short interviews & commentary.
Co-produced & directed by Mel Stuart
full credits at IMDb • official movie site 1972 Wattstax concert 11"x17" color poster available for $19.99 at AllPosters.com 27"x40" color movie poster from Amazon for $19.99 framed 11"x17" color movie poster from Amazon for $19.99 |
 |
"Wattstax" 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD [2004] Warner Home Video widescreen color DVD [9/2004] for $14.99 "Wattstax: Highlights From The Soundtrack" CD [2004]
|
 | "Wattstax" concert 35th Anniversary CD Box Set [2007]
performers include The Bar-Kays, The Emotions, Isaac Hayes, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Albert King, Little Sonny, David Porter, Richard Pryor, Rance Allen Group, The Soul Children, The Staple Singers, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Kim Weston, and many others Stax remastered concert CD set [9/2007] 47 tracks on 3 disks for $24.98 |
"Book of Numbers" [1973] /tt0069816/
Directed by & starring Raymond St. Jacques, with Phillip Michael Thomas
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Numbers-Raymond-St-Jacques/dp/B000YRY7WG/
"Shaft In Africa" sequel [1973]
"Slaughter's Big Rip-Off" [1973] starring Jim Brown
"Black Caesar" [1973] starring Fred Williamson
"Hell Up In Harlem" [1973] starring Fred Williamson
"The Mack" [1973] starring Max Julien /tt0070350/
"Coffy" [1973]
"Claudine" [1974]
"The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" [1974 TV]
/tt0071175/ /B0006IIOHC/
"The Education of Sonny Carson" [1974] /tt0071456/
"Jive Turkey" aka "Baby Needs A New Pair of Shoes" [1974] /tt0074715/ starring Paul Harris & Frank DeKova
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0nFpHW3pOg [1:24:13]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6msaOy4SxE [1:24:14]
"Uptown Saturday Night" [1974] starring Sidney Poitier & Bill Cosby
one of the first comedies to feature black lead actors, and a crossover commercial hit
about two pals who head Uptown to track down the crooks who stole their winning lottery ticket
"Uptown Saturday Night" remake [2013?] 
Announced 3/2012: Remake of the 1974 film, but with a "Hangover" style to it; Will Smith is producing & starring; David Dobkin
will direct the Tim Dowling script; Denzel Washington is almost signed; changes 4/2012: Adam McKay (“Anchorman”) signed on to direct;
by 11/2012, previous details not visible on IMDb •
latest info at IMDb
"Amazing Grace" [1974] starring Moms Mabley
"3 The Hard Way" [1974] starring Jim Brown, Jim Kelly & Fred Williamson
"Bucktown" [1975] starring Fred Williamson
"Cooley High" [1975]
"T.N.T. Jackson" [1975]
"Black Lolita" aka 'Wildcat Women' [1975] in 3-D! /tt0072708/
"Countdown At Kusini" [1976]
"A Piece of The Action" [1977 sequel] starring Poitier & Cosby
"Roots" [1977 TV mini-series] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075572/
http://www.amazon.com/Roots-Four-Disc-Anniversary-LeVar-Burton/dp/B000NA21S6/
"The Wiz" [Universal/Motown Oct 1978] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078504/
cast album & still photos on video http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135708/
based on the Broadway play [1975-79]
"Roots: The Next Generations" [1979 TV mini-series] /tt0078678/
http://www.amazon.com/Roots-Generations-Georg-Stanford-Brown/dp/B00005JL2W/
"A Soldier's Story" [Columbia 1984]
based on the Pulitzer-winning Broadway stageplay "A Soldier's Play" by Charles Fuller • full credits from IMDb
"The Color Purple" [1985] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088939/
"Krush Groove" [1985]
"She's Gotta Have It" [1986] /tt0091939/ by Spike Lee
"Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling" [1986]
directed by & starring Richard Pryor
"Hollywood Shuffle" [1987]
"The White Girl" [1988]
"I’m Gonna Git You Sucka" comedy [1988] by Keenan Ivory Wayans
"Mississippi Burning" [Orion Dec 1988]
 | Three Yankee civil rights workers who are registering new black voters 'disappear', and the FBI is called in. Hackman and DaFoe play FBI agents who do not agree whether the end justifies the means. An unflinching look at racism in the American South. Directed by Alan Parker; starring Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand & Brad Dourif; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, 3 more, won for Best Cinematography; won 3 BAFTA Awards
MGM/UA widescreen color DVD [5/2001] for $13.46 MGM/UA color VHS [8/99] for $14.95 Spectrum soundtrack CD [8/95] for $11.99 full credits from IMDb movie tie-in book by Joel Norst & Kirk Mitchell NAL pb [1/89] out of print/used |
"Do The Right Thing"
[40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks June 1989]
  | Possibly inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Oscar-nominated "Do-desu-ka-den" [1970], this is the tale of a blighted neighborhood in Spike Lee's home turf of Brooklyn. There is actually a moment, ignored or missed by most reviewers, where 'the right thing' gets done – look for it. Written & directed by Spike Lee; starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, John Turturro, Rosie Perez & Samuel L. Jackson, with Spike Lee as 'Mookie'
Universal Home Ent. widescreen color Blu-ray [6/2009] for $18.99 20th Anniversary Edition DVD [6/2009] for $13.99 Universal letterbox color DVD [7/98] for $17.99 Universal widescreen color DVD [2/2001] 2 discs for $28.99 Universal color VHS [1/2000] out of prodn/many used Sony original score CD [9/89] for $11.98 full credits from IMDb Cambridge Univ Press critical text 9x6 pb for $25.19 |
"A Dry White Season" [1989]
"Lean On Me" [1989]
"Glory" [1989]
"To Sleep With Anger" [1990] by Charles Burnett
"Strangers In Good Company" [N.F.B.C./P.B.S. 1990] /tt0102993/
"Daughters of The Dust" [1991]
"Boyz 'N The Hood" [1991]
"Separate But Equal" [ABC-TV April 1991]
  | The true story of the long battle by the N.A.A.C.P. to challenge racial school segregation in the Brown vs. Board of Education court case. Their efforts destroyed the legal validity of racial segregation in general and proved to be the start and the first major victory of the Civil Rights movement.
Co-produced, written & directed by George Stevens Jr.; starring Sidney Poitier, Burt Lancaster, Richard Kiley, Cleavon Little, John McMartin, Mike Nussbaum & Tom Aldredge; won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Special & for Best Casting, 6 other noms
Republic Pictures color DVD [5/2003] 2 disks - out of prodn/used Republic Pictures color VHS [1/96] 2 tapes for $28.98 full credits at IMDb |
"The Josephine Baker Story" [1991]
"Malcolm X" [1992] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104797/
"The Real Malcolm X" [1992 TV] /tt0243518/ by Spike Lee
"Amos and Andrew" [1993]
"Menace II Society" [1993] /tt0107554/
"Posse" [Western 1993] /tt0107863/
directed by & starring Mario Van Peebles
"Brother Minister: The Assassination of Malcolm X" [1994] /tt0109339/
"Sankofa" [1994]
"Waiting To Exhale" [1995]
"Clockers" [1995] by Spike Lee /tt0112688/
"Friday" [1995] /title/tt0113118/
sequel "Next Friday" [2000] /title/tt0195945/
sequel "Friday After Next" [2002] /title/tt0293815/
"Devil In A Blue Dress" [1995]
Directed by Carl Franklin; based on the novel by Walter Mosley; starring Denzel Washington
& Don Cheadle;
full credits at IMDb
"The Tuskegee Airmen" [1995 TV]
full credits from IMDb
http://www.amazon.com/Tuskegee-Airmen-Laurence-Fishburne/dp/B000053V7E/
"Nightjohn" TV movie [1996] by Charles Burnett /tt0117180/
"Get On The Bus" [1996] by Spike Lee
"Soul of The Game" [1996] re Negro League baseball
"Original Gangstas" [May 1996] /tt0117260/
starring Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Paul Winfield,
Isabel Sanford, Oscar Brown Jr., Richard Roundtree & Ron O'Neal
"Eve's Bayou" [1997]
"Soul Food" [1997]
"Amistad" [DreamWorks/HBO Dec 1997]
 |
Africans kidnapped into slavery in 1839 rise up and take over the ship 'La Amistad'; after reaching land in America, they are treated as slaves and put on trial for murder.
Directed by Steven Spielberg; starring Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey & Djimon Hounsou.
DreamWorks widescreen DVD [7/2000] for $17.99 Universal color VHS [1/2000] for $9.99 Universal widescreen VHS [1/2002] for $9.99 Universal VHS w/Spanish subtitles [1/2000] for $9.99 full credits from IMDb |
 |
"Amistad: A Celebration of The Film" [1998] by Steven Spielberg & Debbie Allen, photos by Andrew Cooper Newmarket Press hardcover [2/98] for $19.25 Novelization by Alexs D. Pate
|
"The Voyage of La Amistad: A Quest For Freedom" [independent documentary Jan 1998]
MPI Home Video color/b&w VHS [3/98] for $19.98; no entry on IMDb
"Rosewood" [Warner Bros. Feb 1997]
 |
In 1923, a racist lynch mob attacked the Afro-American community of Rosewood, Florida. Innocent people were massacred over seven days and yet the cover-up lasted for 70 years, until an investigation by St. Petersburg Times reporter Gary Moore.
Directed by John Singleton; starring Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Akosua Busia & Don Cheadle
Warner widescreen DVD [7/2001] for $13.48 Warner color VHS [1/2000] for $9.94 Warner widescreen VHS [4/98] for $9.94 Warner VHS w/Spanish subtitles [1/2000] for $9.94 full credits from IMDb |
 |
"Rosewood: Like Judgment Day" [1996] by Michael D'Orso Boulevard 9x6 pb [12/96] for $9.60 Putnam hardcover [2/96] out of print/used |
'The Rosewood Report (1993)' online at Tallahassee Freenet
Rosewood Massacre website
'Rosewood Reborn' radio documentary, narrated by James Earl Jones
http://www.amazon.com/Watermelon-Woman-V-S-Brodie/dp/6305799156/ [1997]
"Down In The Delta" [1998] directed by Maya Angelou /tt0142231/
"Beloved" [1998] from the book by Toni Morrison /tt0120603/
Co-produced by Jonathan Demme & Oprah Winfrey; starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover,
Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise & Beah Richards
"Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" [1999] starring Halle Berry
http://www.amazon.com/Soldiers-Story-Howard-Rollins-Jr/dp/B00000JRW6/ [1999]
"Shaft" remake [2000] starring Samuel L. Jackson
"The Tuskegee Airmen" documentary [2002 TV]
full credits from IMDb
"The Rosa Parks Story" [2002 TV] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293562/
http://www.amazon.com/Rosa-Parks-Story-Angela-Bassett/dp/B00006LPHJ/
"Barbershop" [2002] /tt0303714/
sequel "Barbershop 2: Back In Business" [2004] /tt0337579/
"Barbershop" TV series [2005] /tt0460622/
"Barbershop: A Little Off the Top" TV documentary [2005] /tt0472049/
"Barbershop" & "Barbershop 2: Back in Business" (2006) /B000E33W12/
http://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Soldiers-Joaquin-Phoenix/dp/B0000E32V0/ [2004]
http://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Soldiers-Danny-Glover/dp/B000BNTM9G/ [2006]
"Dream Girls" [2006]
"Zora's Roots" [PBS-TV 2008] /tt1224459/ B001690X5G
"Pastor Brown" [ARC Ent. June 2009, TV 2013] /tt1220633/
Co-produced & directed by Rockmond Dunbar; written by Rhonda Baraka; starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield {co-producer}
"Good Hair" comedy documentary [H.B.O./Roadside Oct 2009]
 | "Sit back and relax" An examination of the value given to hair in Afro-American culture. Co-produced & co-written by Jeff Stilson & Chris Rock; directed by Jeff Stilson; starring Chris Rock, featuring Ice-T, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven-Symoné, Maya Angelou, Salt n Pepa, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Eve; won Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site |
"Black Dynamite" Blaxploitation spoof
[Columbia Pictures Oct 2009]
 | "When The Man murders his brother, pumps heroin into local orphanages, and floods the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor, Black Dynamite is the one hero willing to fight all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of Honky House." Filmed in 'Cinematronic Quadravision'; co-written & directed by Scott Sanders; co-written by Michael Jai White & Byron Minns; starring Michael Jai White & Byron Minns
Sony widescreen color Blu-ray [2/2010] for $21.99 Sony widescreen color DVD [2/2010] for $16.99 full credits from IMDb • official movie site |
"Black Dynamite: The Animated Series" [Adult Swim 2012+]
The 10-episode pilot & first season ran in March 2011 and then from July to September in 2012; announced 12/2012: Adult Swim has
picked up a 10-episode second season for broadcast in late 2013 or early 2014 • full credits from IMDb
"Separate, But Equal" docufilm [indep Aug 2010]
 | While searching for a master print of a photograph of his deceased mother, filmmaker Shawn Wilson discovered H.C. Anderson, a black photographer in the Mississippi Delta, who had documented the middle-class Afro-American community of Greenville during legal segregation. The old photographer gave the young filmmaker a new perspective on Mississippi & The South; the Anderson Collection of photographs was subsequently acquired for preservation by the Smithsonian Institute.
Co-produced, written & directed by Shawn D. Wilson; film won H.B.O. Best Documentary Award DVD/Blu-ray not available • bare credits at IMDb • official movie site |
"For Colored Girls" [Lionsgate/34th Street Films Nov 2010]
Co-produced, written & directed by Tyler Perry; starring Kimberly Elise, Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine,
Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad & Whoopi Goldberg;
http://www.forcoloredgirlsmovie.com/
"Madea's Big Happy Family" [2011]
written & directed by and starring Tyler Perry
"The Help" [Aug 2011]
"The Black Power Mixtape, 1967-1975"
[Swedish TV 2011, Sundance Selects USA Sept 2011]
 | 100-minute documentary film culled from footage by white Swedish filmmakers that was shot in America from 1967-1975 and only recently discovered in storage; featuring Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Mable Carmichael, Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis, Louis Farrakhan, Danny Glover, Martin Luther King Jr., Talib Kweli, bookseller Lewis Micheaux, Bobby Seale & Malcolm X • Written & directed by Göran Olsson
full credits at IMDb • official movie site M.P.I. Home Video b&w/color DVD [12/2011] for $14.40 companion book: Haymarket Books hardcover [BUMPED to June 2013] for $21.95 |
"Joyful Noise" [Alcon/Warner Bros. Jan 2012]
 | The story is much like a sitcom, the camera direction is without style, but the acting is wonderful and the music is fantastically powerful. A racially-mixed church choir in small-town Georgia competes again in the national 'Joyful Noise' competition, and loses again during the semi-finals; but melodrama intervenes and the choir is invited to Los Angeles for the finals. (Contains pro-Christian speeches that are natural to the characters.) Written & directed by Todd Graff; music by Mervyn Warren; starring Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Dexter Darden, Courtney B. Vance, Kris Kristofferson, Angela Grovey, Paul Woolfolk, Jesse L. Martin, Andy Karl & Dequina Moore Watertower Music (Warner) soundtrack CD [1/2012] 12 tracks for $10.00 DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia |
"Red Tails" [Lucasfilm/Fox Jan 2012]
 | The pilots and crew of the all-Negro 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps leave their training base at Tuskegee, Alabama proud to serve their country in the war against Hitler in Europe; but they chafe at their ground-attack assignments against trains and buildings, and their officers demand the chance to fight the Luftwaffe in the air.
Directed by Anthony Hemingway; written by John Ridley & Aaron McGruder, based on a book by John B. Holway; starring Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., David Oyelowo, Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds & Elijah Kelley
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | "Red Tails: An Oral History of The Tuskegee Airmen" by John B. Holway Dover Publns 9¼x6 movie tie-in pb [1/2012] for $13.57 "Red Tails, Black Wings: The Men of America's Black Air Force" [1997] by John B. Holway Yucca Tree Press 9x6 pb [3/2000] out of print/used Yucca Tree Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [2/97] out of print/used |
"Thurgood" [H.B.O. Feb 2012]
with Larry Fishburne as the Supreme Court Justice
"Christmas in Compton" [Nov 2012?] /tt1957867/
"The Color Purple" musical film [scheduled for 2013 release?]
Produced by Oprah Winfrey; starring Fantasia Barrino
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available;
latest info at IMDb
"The Color Purple" Broadway musical [2005-2008]
Scott Sanders always heard music in "The Color Purple", in both the 1982 novel by Alice Walker and the 1985 movie
by Steven Spielberg;
show had 30 previews & 910 performances; book by Marsha Norman; music & lyrics by Brenda Russell,
Allee Willis & Stephen Bray; starring LaChanze {Sapp} & Fantasia Barrino; nominated for 11 Tony Awards (won 1)
credits at IBDb •
official stageplay site
"Live 2 Tell" [NStar Studios 2013?]
Announced May 2011: Preston Holmes and his NStar Studios company have finally acquired the script that
the murdered rapper & actor Tupac Shakur [1971-96] wrote while serving prison time for weapon charges.
The script follows "a teenage drug lord and his efforts to leave a life of crime"; producer Dwight Williams and
Shakur’s mother Afeni Shakur are on board • latest info at IMDb
"Something Whispered" [Monolith Pictures 2013?]
Announced 9/2012: Filming starts in September; to be directed by actor Peter Cousens, from a script by Tim Chey;
Cuba Gooding Jr. will star. The story is set in 1850; a slaver named Samuel attempts to free his family from the brutality of
institutionalized slavery, intent on escaping the tobacco plantation that have suffered for two generations; they head north toward Canada,
by way of a network of secret routes and safe houses known as the 'Underground Railroad', tracked by a group of ruthless
mercenary slave hunters • not yet listed at IMDb
"Betty and Coretta" [Lifetime 2013?]
Announced 9/2012: Title changed from "Parallel Lives"; co-producer Mary J. Blige already signed to portray Betty Shabazz;
newly-added: Angela Bassett to portray Coretta Scott King & Ruby Dee to narrate • latest info at IMDb
"Dope" [Open Road Films June 2015]
 | Set in Inglewood and Los Angeles, California; geeky Afro-American teen in senior year of high school has straight-A grades and wants to get into Harvard; he and two pals get sucked into a drug deal but manage to survive; lots of hip-hop music on the soundtrack.
Co-produced & narrated by Forest Whitaker; co-produced, written & directed by Rick Famuyiwa; starring Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, Tony Revolori, Quincy Brown, Rakim Mayers/A$ap Rocky, Blake Anderson, Chanel Iman, Zoë Kravitz, Roger Guenveur Smith, Kap G, Bruce Beatty, De'aundre Bonds, Julian Brand, Kimberly Elise, Rick Fox, Amin Joseph, Ricky Harris, Allen Maldonado, Mimi Michaels, Ashton Moio, Lidia Porto, Keith Stanfield, Tyga & rapper Casey Veggies
Universal Studios widescreen color Blu-ray/DVD set [DUE Oct 2015] 2 disks for $24.97 Universal Studios widescreen color DVD [DUE Oct 2015] for $19.97 full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia |
 | "Music From The Motion Picture Dope" soundtrack album [2015]
iamOTHER/Columbia Records EXPLICIT version soundtrack MP3 album [6/2015] 15 tracks for $9.99 the artists are: A Tribe Called Quest, Awreeoh (4), Buddy, Digable Planets, Digital Underground, Kap G, Lolawolf, Nas, Naughty By Nature, Public Enemy, Gil Scott-Heron, and Watch the Duck |
"The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story"
[FX Network/BBC-TV Feb 2016]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788432/
"The Birth of A Nation" [Fox Searchlight Oct 2016]
 | Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum American South, orchestrates an uprising in 1831. Filmed in Savannah, Georgia. Co-produced by Nate Parker, Tony Parker, Edward Zwick, and others; co-written & directed by and starring Nate Parker; co-written by Jean McGianni Celestin; starring Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Mark Boone Jr., Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Dwight Henry; won Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia watch 4/2016 official teaser trailer [1:56] at YouTube watch 6/2016 official trailer #2 [4:33] at YouTube |
"Almost Christmas" [Universal Pictures Nov 2016]
 |
Comedy film about a request by a beloved patriarch for one gift this holiday season: to get along. If they can honor that wish and spend five days under the same roof without killing one another, it will be a Christmas miracle.
Filmed in Atlanta, Georgia; co-produced, written & directed by David E. Talbert; starring Danny Glover, Gabrielle Union {co-producer}, Nicole Ari Parker, Omar Epps, Jessie T. Usher, Romany Malco, Kimberly Elise, Gregory Alan Williams, J.B. Smoove, Mo'Nique, Nea Dune, Tara Jones, Ric Reitz, D.C. Young Fly, Jeff Rose, Nadej K. Bailey, Rachel Kylian, Tara Batesole, Richard Molina, Alkoya Brunson, Aaron Wiggins, Ryan Newton, Ravi Naidu, Keon Mitchell, Angel Yvonne, Naja Ranae, Eric Word, Marley Taylor, Johnny Land, Andrea Baldwin, Jaxon Rose Moore, Kimani Edwards
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia watch 6/2016 official trailer [2:28] at YouTube |
"Hidden Figures" [Fox Dec 2016]
 | A team of Afro-American women provide N.A.S.A. with important mathematical data needed to launch the program's first successful space missions. Co-produced, co-written & directed by Theodore Melfi; co-written by Allison Schroeder, based on a book by Margot Lee Shetterly; starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, Glen Powell {as John Glenn}, Kimberly Quinn, Olek Krupa, Ken Strunk, Ariana Neal, Saniyya Sidney, Zani Jones Mbayise, Tre Stokes, Selah Kimbro Jones, Karan Kendrick, Corey Mendell Parker, Alkoya Brunson, Ashton Tyler, Lidya Jewett, Donna Biscoe, Jaiden Kaine, Gregory Alan Williams, Maria Howell, Arnell Powell, Ron Clinton Smith, Bob Bost, Crystal Lee Brown, Tequilla Whitfield, Wilbur Fitzgerald, Cullen Moss, Kurt Krause, John West Jr., Paige Nicollette, Kamryn Johnson, Amanda Dunn, Dane Davenport {as Alan Shepard}, Evan Holtzman {as Deke Slayton}, Travis Smith {as Scott Carpenter}, Devin McGee {as Gus Grissom}, Joe Hardy Jr. {as Gordon Cooper}, Glenn Allen {as Wally Schirra}
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia watch 8/2016 official trailer [3:14] at YouTube |
 | "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and The Untold Story of The Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win The Space Race" [2016] by Margot Lee Shetterly Kindle Edition from William Morrow/HarperCollins [9/2016] for $14.99 William Morrow 8x5¼ pb [12/2016] for $10.86 William Morrow 9x6 hardcover [9/2016] for $17.94 Young Readers' Edition [ages 8-12; 2016] Kindle Edition from HarperCollins Publrs [11/2016] for $7.99 HarperCollins 7½x5 pb [11/2016] for $6.64 HarperCollins 8¼x5½ hardcover [11/2016] for $16.99 |
"Same Kind of Different As Me" [Paramount Pictures Feb 2017]
 | An international art dealer must befriend a dangerous homeless man in order to save his struggling marriage to a woman whose dreams will lead all three of them on the journey of their lives. {Spoiler: story contains magical faith-based warm fuzzies.} Filmed in Jackson, Mississippi; co-produced & co-written by Ron Hall; co-written & directed by Michael Carney; co-written by Alexander Foard; based on the book by Ron Hall, Denver Moore & Lynn Vincent; starring Greg Kinnear, Renée Zellweger, Djimon Hounsou, Olivia Holt, Jon Voight, Stephanie Leigh Schlund
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available full credits at IMDb • official movie site • movie entry at Wikipedia watch 8/2016 official trailer [2:23] at YouTube |
 |
New York Times bestseller book [2006] by Ron Hall & Denver Moore, with Lynn Vincent 'a modern-day slave, an international art dealer, and the unlikely woman who bound them together' Kindle Edition from Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins [2006 edition] for $9.99 Thomas Nelson 8½x5½ pb [3/2008] for $10.01 Thomas Nelson 9½x6½ hardcover [6/2006] out of print/100+ used book entry at Wikipedia sequel book "What Difference Do It Make?: Stories of Hope and Healing" [2009] Kindle Edition from Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins [8/2010] for $9.99 Thomas Nelson 8½x5½ pb [8/2010] for $11.85 Thomas Nelson 7¼x5¾ hardcover [9/2009] out of print/100+ used |
"Intruder In The Dust" remake [indep 2017?]
Announced 5/2016 at Cannes: Carl Franklin is signed to direct a new movie adaptation of William Faulkner’s "Intruder In The Dust" for producers Rob Hickman,
Lee Caplin, Dimitri Logothetis, Jay Strommen, Larry Nealy, Steven Michael Swadling & Jesse B. Franklin • latest info at IMDb
"Soul On Bikes" [indep 2017?]
Announced 9/2016: director-producer Rockmond Dunbar has optioned Tobie Gene Levingston’s autobiographical book "Soul On Bikes:
The East Bay Dragons MC and The Black Biker Set" [2004] • latest info at IMDb
http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Bikes-Dragons-Black-Biker/dp/076034535X/
http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Bikes-Tobie-Levingston/dp/076031747X/
here on Magic Lantern's Afro-American Film Festival Pages
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back on page two: actors & actresses • collections • documentaries • selected movie music
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