Movies To Spark Conversation
13TH, Ava Duvernay's documentary, refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” The film illustrates the progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry.
In his new film, director Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished - a narration about race in America, using the writer's original words.
Companion book to the documentary film by Raoul Peck.
In KILL THE MESSENGER, a reporter is put under enormous pressure and internal conflict as he exposes the CIA's role in importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb. Representative Maxine Waters, a congresswoman for South Central Los Angeles — the heart of the drug wars — requested both federal and congressional inquiries into the role that the U.S. government played in bringing cocaine into her community.
BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION is Stanley Nelson's documentary about the rise and fall of The Black Panther Party.
THE BOOK OF NEGROES is based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Lawrence Hill, which has sold a million copies worldwide, The Book of Negroes is a universal story of loss, courage and triumph that depicts the extraordinary life journey of Aminata Diallo -- an indomitable African woman who survives in a world in which everything seems to be against her.
WOLF CALL, the true Emmett Till story, 1955-6, as reported by William Bradford Huie of LOOK magazine.
The recent book, The Blood of Emmett Till, shed further evidence on the innocence of Emmett Till. This film is based on the documented interview with the murderers of Emmett Till. directed by Rob Underhill; actor Mike Wiley, plays all three of the lead roles in this reenactment.
ALWAYS IN SEASON explores the lingering impact of more than a century of lynching African Americans and connects this form of historic racial terrorism to racial violence today. This documentary feature film presents relatives of the perpetrators and victims of lynchings in communities across the United States who are seeking to acknowledge the victims, repair the damage, and reconcile--all in the midst of police shootings and heated national debate about the value of Black lives. Jacqueline Olive, producer and director.
AN OUTRAGE is a documentary film about lynching in the American South.
"Filmed on-location at lynching sites in six states and bolstered by the memories and perspectives of descendants, community activists, and scholars, this unusual historical documentary seeks to educate even as it serves as a hub for action to remember and reflect upon a long-hidden past.
Thousands of African Americans confronted, resisted, endured, and perished during the era of lynching in the American South. Beginning with the end of the Civil War and continuing well into the middle of the twentieth century, this extralegal, socially-sanctioned practice of torture and murder claimed the lives of at least 3,959 African American men, women, and children. This past is little discussed today, even as its wounds fester." -- From “An Outrage”: A New Film about Lynching in the American South by Michael T. Barry Jr.
THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR, a 1970's Black Revolutionary film about a black man recruited by the CIA. After 5 years he learns everything he can from the CIA and trains street folk in the art of guerilla revolutionary warfare against the white American superstructure. This film mysteriously disappeared but found its way back through some hidden camera negatives.