African American documentaries
List of African American Documentaries (list is in progress)
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- DirectorPhil BertelsenRachel DretzinStarsMartin AgronskyJoseph BoyceTaylor BranchExamines how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and leaders of the civil rights movement used the power of print and visual media, especially television, to awaken America to the shame and injustice of racial inequality.
- DirectorMelissa HaizlipSam PollardStarsBlair UnderwoodSidney PoitierMichael JacksonBefore Oprah, before Arsenio, there was Mr. SOUL. Ellis Haizlip ensures that the Revolution would be televised with "SOUL!," America's first "Black Tonight Show." From 1968 to 1973, the public-television variety show SOUL!, guided by enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics--voices that had few other options for national exposure, and, as a result, found the program an improbable place to call home. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. With participants' recollections and illuminating archival clips, Mr. SOUL captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate, and an unsung hero whose voice we need now more than ever, to restore the SOUL of a nation.
- DirectorRobert DrewStarsJames LipscombJohn F. KennedyGeorge WallaceGovernor George Wallace will not let two black students into an Alabama school, against the wishes of President Kennedy. Loud shouts come from both sides of the issue as JFK stands by his decisions.
- DirectorSidney LumetJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsHarry BelafonteRuby DeeBen GazzaraFollows Martin Luther King's life and decades-long civil rights activism.
- DirectorWilliam CaytonStarsBrock PetersKevin KennedyTommy BurnsA documentary on the first African-American boxer to ever become world heavyweight champion. Released on the same year as "The Great White Hope" and also Oscar nominated like that film, this project uses of stills, archive footage and his own words narrated by actor Brock Peters to present Johnson's life, trajectory and of course, 'the fight of the century' against James Jeffries.
- DirectorHoward AlkStarsSkip AndrewEdward CarmodyJames DavisA chronicle of Fred Hampton's revolutionary leadership of the Illinois Black Panther Party, followed by an investigation into his assassination at the hands of the Chicago Police Department.
- DirectorArnold PerlStarsJames Earl JonesOssie DavisJohn AliJames Earl Jones narrates this fascinating and moving documentary about the life of the assassinated black leader through various sources.
- DirectorLloyd RichardsStarsJames Earl JonesBurt WallaceMajor events in the life of Robeson are recounted in this one-man performance.
- DirectorAbbey LustgartenStarsWilliam GreavesJames Earl JonesPaul RobesonA retrospective look at the career of Paul Robeson and his legacy as both an American and a citizen of the world.
- DirectorLJ AryeeteyPOV OF AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF PAUL ROBESON WHO FOUGHT AGAINST JIM CROW.
- DirectorPaul WagnerStarsLawrence W. DavisC.L. DellumsErnest Ford Jr.The film chronicles the organizing of the first Black trade union the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
- CreatorHenry HamptonStarsJulian BondCoretta Scott KingJohn LewisA documentary about the American Civil Rights Movement from 1952 to 1965.
- DirectorRichard KilbergStarsJulian BondJohn BrademasCalvin O. Butts IIIThe 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 Õ30s, Õ40s and Õ50s.
- DirectorJefri AalmuhammedJack BaxterStarsA. Peter BaileyRoscoe Lee BrowneJohn Henrik ClarkeBrother Minister reveals the mystery surrounding the assassination of Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City on February 21, 1965. It probes the innocence of two of the convicted assassins, reveals the true identity of the killers, examines the FBI and NYPD clandestine roles in the assassination, and discovers the secret origin of the Nation of Islam and its political and religious legacy in America.
- DirectorOrlando BagwellStarsAlfre Woodard
- StarsSamuel L. JacksonHank AaronKareem Abdul-JabbarDocumentary feature exploring the rise of African-Americans to positions of greatness in American sports. Stories are told of boxers, tennis players, runners, and basketball players, athletes who either suffered the indignities of racism, helped break down its walls, or enjoyed the opportunities afforded by past struggles.
- DirectorLee Lew LeeStarsMumia Abu-JamalDennis BanksMarlon BrandoA recap of the Black Panther Party's often distorted history and an expose of apparent governmental plots that hastened its demise.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsMaxine McNairWalter CronkiteChris McNairA documentary of the notorious racial terrorist bombing of an African American church during the Civil Rights Movement.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsGeorge BarbourTimuel BlackFrank BoldenThe history of black newspapers in America.
- DirectorTom ThurmanStarsStanley BoothJohn CaweltiBishetta MerrittFilm scholars discuss movies made by and for Blacks in the segregated America of the first half of the 20th century.
- DirectorBarak GoodmanDaniel AnkerStarsFrances McDormandStanley TucciAndre BraugherThe history of the "Scottsboro Boys," a group of African American men who were victims of a racist miscarriage of justice that became a national controversy.
- DirectorStanley NelsonMarcus Garvey emmigrated from Jamaica to New York City in 1914, bringing with him a message of black empowerment. After touring the United States with his message, his organization started publishing The Negro World, a newspaper. With millions of followers worldwide, Garvey decried racial prejudice in the U.S.A., and urged African-Americans to invest in shares of his organization's shipping company, The Black Star Line. Garvey also promoted the idea of millions of African-Americans moving to Africa to found their own nation.
- DirectorWilliam GreavesStarsSidney PoitierRalph Bunche
- DirectorDeborah DicksonSusan FroemkeAlbert MayslesStarsLaLee WallaceReggie BarnesThis documentary follows a Mississippi Delta school district and a single Delta family as they struggle against the crippling effects of poverty in the wake of more than one hundred years of slavery.
- DirectorStan LathanStarsDebbie AllenCarl AndersonLouis ArmstrongSurvey of musical performers on film from the 20th century, organized into segments: Dancers, Divas, Rock and Soul, Jazz and Swing, Male Singers, and Hip Hop.
- DirectorWilliam GreavesG. William JonesStarsBillie AllenAlbert AmmonsLouis ArmstrongThis documentary presents clips from black films from 1929 through 1957. Musical performers include Paul Robeson (in Song of Freedom), Bessie Smith (St. Louis Blues), Eubie Blake and the Nicholas Brothers (Pie-Pie Blackbird), Lena Horne (Boogie Woogie Dream), Nat 'King' Cole (Killer Diller), Sammy Davis Jr. (Rufus Jones for President), Cab Calloway (Jitterbug Party), and Ethel Waters (Carib Gold). Dramatic excerpts include Murder in Harlem (1935), Juke Joint (1947), and Souls of Sin (1949). Also included are clips from white films stereotyping blacks, including Griffith's Birth of a Nation, and a blackfaced Bing Crosby in Crooner's Holiday (1934).
- DirectorWalid KhaldiStarsMario Van PeeblesPearl BowserOssie DavisThis documentary provides a look into the B westerns produced for African-American theatres in the 1930s and 1940s and their impact on westerns featuring African Americans in recent years.
- DirectorWalid KhaldiStarsPearl BowserOssie DavisWilliam GreavesSurvey of African-American "race" films of the 1920's through 1940's, particularly the work of Paul Robeson, Oscar Micheaux, Clarence Muse, Spencer Williams, Francine Everett, Sheila Guyse, and July Jones.
- DirectorWalid KhaldiStarsPearl BowserOssie DavisWilliam GreavesSurvey of comedic African-American "race" films of the 1920's through 1940's, particularly the work of Bert Williams, Stepin Fetchit, Mantan Moreland, Spencer Williams, Dusty Fletcher
- DirectorCharles BurnettStarsHerbert ApthekerAyuko BabuCharles BurnettThe story and legacy of the enigmatic leader of the notorious 1831 homicidal slave revolt in Virginia, along with reviews of works about him, are explored; twentieth century civil rights discussed and cultural relativism mentioned.
- DirectorW. Drew PerkinsBill ReifenbergerStarsXzavier KristoffOssie DavisA documentary filmed at Moton Field in Tuskegee Alabama, home to the airmen of the 99th Fighter Squadron. They were the first African American fighter pilots trained to fly in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Nearly 1,000 pilots trained in Tuskegee and about half of those saw combat, destroying or damaging about 400 enemy aircraft, but found themselves fighting two wars-- the one against fascism abroad, and the one against racism at home.
- DirectorRichard BorensteinStarsOssie DavisThis production tells the gripping true story of the 332nd Fighter Group and the 99th Fighter Squadron of the US Army Aire Corps - the Tuskdegee Airmen - America's first black combat pilots. Using exclusive, never-before-seen interviews and archival footage, The Tuskegee Airmen's saga of harrowing combat and bomber escort duty comes to life.
- DirectorDenton AdkinsonStarsLee ArcherRoscoe BrownHerbert CarterIn Their Own Words The Tuskegee Airmen tells the exciting and heroic story of America's first black fighter group from the beginning, to the end. The story begins with the 1925 Army War College Study "The Use of Negro Manpower in War" and how it was used to deny black men the opportunity to fly in military service. The story continues with the origins of the program at Tuskegee, the reactions of pilot trainees to be given the opportunity to fly, and later follows pilots, support personnel, and their families into the skies of the European Theater. After personal stories from both a widow who lost her husband, and one of the 32 prisoners of war and his experiences, the story continues with the Airmen's reaction to coming home to 1940s America. The events of the Freeman Field Mutiny are told by two men who experienced the racism firsthand, and denied to sign an order that stated they understood and accepted it. From there, the story continues with the issuing of Executive Order 9981 by President Harry Truman, which effectively desegregated the military, and how it opened doors for future generations. The story travels through the Civil Rights Movement to 2007 to the receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal and what it meant to so many of the surviving Airmen.
- StarsDavid AcordCuba Gooding Jr.Double Victory spotlights the historic role of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, revealing the ways these African Americans bravely fought a war on two fronts: they helped the world triumph against fascism abroad and they fought valiantly for racial justice and equality at home. Though the Tuskegee Airmen faced the enormous challenges of discrimination from military officers, inferior equipment and heightened scrutiny, these pilots and their support personnel excelled. Featuring many Tuskegee pilots who tell powerful stories of their experiences during the war, Double Victory shows how these airmen helped defeat fascism in Europe and helped inspire the Civil Rights Movement upon their return.
- DirectorTom RubeckMonika WatkinsStarsBrandon CraigWilliam T. FauntroyAmelia MontgomeryOvercoming the history of racism and legacy of inequality, four men from across the nation will make the journey to witness first-hand what they never dared to dream. On January 20, 2009, a handful of the once-forgotten Tuskegee Airmen packed up and headed to the inauguration of the first black president of the United States.
- DirectorJames White
- DirectorMichael LetcherStarsJohnny FordCharles GomillionGwen PattonThe Civil Rights Movement in Tuskegee, Alabama including the work of activist and sociologist Dr. Charles Gomillion of Tuskegee University.
- DirectorLayon GrayStarsLamar K. ChestonNia FairweatherSam GlovinIn January 2012, an old reel was found in a thrift store. it revealed women in the 1940's talking about their loved ones who have travelled to Tuskegee Alabama to be come pilots. We know them today as the Tuskegee Airmen.
- StarsChristopher RobinsonRondrell McCormickWilliam Jamaal PrimusFebruary One tells the inspiring story surrounding the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins that revitalized the Civil Rights Movement and set an example for student militancy of the coming decade.
- DirectorEd BellThomas LennonStarsWhoopi GoldbergAngela BassettMichael BoatmanWhen the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.
- DirectorLisaGay HamiltonStarsBeah RichardsBill CobbsOssie DavisA profile of the African-American actress Beah Richards, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
- DirectorShola LynchStarsShirley ChisholmWalter CronkiteGeorge WallaceA documentary on Brooklyn-based Congresswoman Shirley's Chisholm's 1972 presidential bid.
- DirectorJon Timothy AndersonStarsTim AndersonGary BairdReginald BallardIn WWII, the first group of African-Americans to fly for the US military proved themselves equal among their fellow flyers. Overseas they had defeated one enemy. At home, the fight for equality was to be their greatest victory as they blazed the way for Civil Rights. They were the Tuskegee Airmen.
- DirectorPaola di FlorioStarsJulie StevensStockard ChanningMolly HoweDocumentary on the civil rights activist, Viola Liuzzo, who was murdered in 1965 as she campaigned for black suffrage in Selma, Alabama, and its effect on her family.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsCecelia AntoinetteHenry Louis Gates Jr.Lani GuinierFilmmaker Stanley Nelson's look back at the 40 years he spent summering at Oak Bluffs, a black-oriented resort community on Martha's Vineyard.
- DirectorKen BurnsStarsJack JohnsonKeith DavidSamuel L. JacksonThe story of Jack Johnson, the first African-American Heavyweight boxing champion.
- StarsMorgan FreemanJordan BrownJustin JacksonA documentary of the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies through the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction, this series examines the integral role slavery played in shaping the new country and challenges the long held notion that it was exclusively a Southern enterprise. Remarkable stories of individual slaves offer fresh perspectives on the slave experience.
- DirectorKeith BeauchampStarsMamie Till MobleyWheeler ParkerSimeon WrightNever-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.
- DirectorKeith B. PlummerStarsJohn LewisEleanor Holmes NortonDorothy HeightEmotionally powerful and gripping stories visually told from an extraordinarily wide variety of movement participants ranging from foot soldiers to prominent leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement. These stories are creatively woven with historical footage, photographs and reenactment to tell the first hand accounts of history that many have never heard before about that tumultuous chapter of American history.
- 2006–20075 epsTV-MA8.5 (4.8K)TV Mini Series89MetascoreStarsDarleen AsevedoJay AsevedoShelton Shakespear AlexanderAn examination of the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
- DirectorRichard BreyerStarsDorothy Butler GilliamJames MeredithMinnijean Brown TrickeyAbout the American Deep South in the turbulent '50's and '60's, and features two African-American journalists who covered the important stories of the era.
- DirectorJeremy DeanTo a soundtrack the mixes gospel with hip-hop, this film tells the story of the heroic but often overlooked protests by black and white civil rights supporters in 1964 in Saint Augustine, Florida, and the inequalities that persist to this day in the local African American community.
- DirectorMarco WilliamsA look at three U.S. cities, which were part of many communities that violently forced African American families to flee in post-reconstruction America.
- DirectorDawn LogsdonStarsGlen David AndrewsHarold EvansEric FonerFaubourg Treme documents the enduring legacy of one of the United States' oldest African American communities, an area just outside the French Quarter of New Orleans.
- StarsThom Gossom Jr.Howell RainesMartin Luther KingFocusing on football programs in the Southeastern, Southwest and Atlantic Coast Conferences, Breaking The Huddle: The Integration of College Football chronicles the heyday of football programs at historically black colleges and universities, and explores the profound effect of the Civil Rights movement of the '60s on the racial status quo of college athletics. The story culminates with the Sept. 1970 game played in Birmingham between the University of Southern California, and the University of Alabama.
- DirectorCleo Byrd Jr.StarsAsun The GreatBen CaldwellKeenan ChapmanA documentary film that sheds light on some of the untold stories about historical African-American figures from the past and the present.
- DirectorRay NewmanStarsBarack Obama
- StarsBill CosbyJohn ChurchvilleCharles J. CorrellBill Cosby examines the problematic way blacks are represented in American history and films and the effects it has on black children's self-perception..
- StarsAngela BassettDaisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock is the story of a seven-year journey by filmmaker Sharon La Cruise to unravel the life of a forgotten civil rights activist named Daisy Bates. Beautiful, glamorous and articulate, Bates was fearless in her quest for justice, stepping into the spotlight to bring national attention to issues - and some say herself. Unconventional and egotistical, she became a household name in 1957 when she fought for the right of nine black students to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her public support culminated in a constitutional crisis - pitting a president against a governor and a community against itself. As head of the Arkansas NAACP and protector of the nine students, Bates would achieve instant fame as the drama played out on national television and in newspapers around the world. But that fame would prove fleeting and Bates would pay a hefty price for her attempts to remain relevant. The film travels with Daisy Bates on her long and lonely walk from orphaned child to newspaperwoman to national Civil Rights figure to her last days in Little Rock. Bates's journey, full of triumphs and defeats, parallels the ongoing struggle of generations of African Americans who have challenged America to live up to what it claims to be for more than 200 years. Produced and directed by La Cruise, Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock premieres on the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 10 PM (check local listings).
- DirectorGöran Hugo OlssonStarsAngela DavisStokely CarmichaelBobby SealeFootage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsRaymond ArsenaultGenevieve HoughtonGordon CareyThe story of the Civil Rights Movement interstate busing protest campaign.
- TV Mini Series
- DirectorShola LynchStarsAngela DavisEisa DavisBrandon J. DirdenA documentary that chronicles the life of young college professor Angela Davis, and how her social activism implicates her in a botched kidnapping attempt that ends with a shootout, four dead, and her name on the FBI's 10 most wanted list.
- TV Movie
- 20136 epsTV-PG8.7 (291)TV Mini SeriesStarsHenry Louis Gates Jr.Vincent BrownBernard E. Powers Jr.Professor Gates describes the history of the African American people by talking to historians, authors, and the people who made history.
- DirectorDawn PorterStarsRoss BarnettMargaret BlockR.L. BoldenSpies of Mississippi tells the story of a secret spy agency formed by the state of Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain white supremacy. The anti-civil rights organization was hidden in plain sight in an unassuming office in the Mississippi State Capitol. Funded with taxpayer dollars and granted extraordinary latitude to carry out its mission, the Commission evolved from a propaganda machine into a full blown spy operation. How do we know this is true? The Commission itself tells us in more than 146,000 pages of files preserved by the State. This wealth of first person primary historical material guides us through one of the most fascinating and yet little known stories of America's quest for Civil Rights.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsKarin Kunstler GoldmanJulian BondPeggy Jean ConnorA 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.
- DirectorJon GoodmanStarsPaul BreinesCatherine BrooksRuth BrownFor a brief moment in time, a few daring, innovative musicians stood at the crossroads of a revolution in music and culture. Across one of the most turbulent periods in American history-from the early Civil Rights Era to Watergate-they brought music, medium and message together as never before, composing a soundtrack perfectly tuned to the tempo and pulse of its time.
- DirectorSteve Purcell
- DirectorBob HerbertStarsBob HerbertA documentary about the extraordinary difficulty African-Americans have faced in their efforts to establish and maintain a middle class standard of living. Nearly 40 percent of all black children are poor. And the black middle class remains proportionally much smaller and far less healthy than the white middle class. With a compelling narrative, dramatic historical footage and a series of deeply personal interviews, Bob Herbert shows why this is still the case a half century after the heyday of the civil rights movement.
- DirectorWilliam GreavesStarsOssie DavisJulian BondSt.Clair DrakeThe 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.
- StarsGeorge Washington CarverCharles R. DrewDocumentary short film detailing the work on American black college campuses in response to the call for military recruits and trained workers.