films to watch in 2019
for the month of febuary. #blackcinema edition
Click on the poster for the film's info.
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mudbound
01 of 30 rewatchSummary: Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
Genre: Drama, War
Director: Dee Rees
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jonathan Banks, Mary J Blige.
kiki
02 of 30 still to watchSummary: In New York City, LGBTQ youth-of-color gather on the Christopher Street Pier to practice the performance-based art form Ballroom, which was made famous in the early 1990s by Madonna's music video "Vogue" and the documentary "Paris Is Burning."
Genre: Documentary
Director: Sara Jordenö
Starring: Loretta Coombs, Takima Coombs, Afrika Juicy Couture.
the color purple
03 of 30 rewatchSummary: A black Southern woman struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over four decades.
Genre: Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey.
lionheart
04 of 30 still to watchSummary: Running a company can be challenging, especially if you are a female in a male-dominated industry. Looking to prove her worth, Adaeze steps up to the challenge when her father is forced to take a step back due to health issues.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Genevieve Nnaji
Starring: Genevieve Nnaji, Nkem Owoh, Pete Edochie.
black earth rising
05 of 30 watchedSummary: Kate Ashby was rescued as a child from the Rwandan genocide by her renowned international lawyer adopted mother Eve. Living in London and working for barrister Michael Ennis, Kate's mother takes on a case involving an African militia leader which will upend both their lives forever.
Genre: Thriller
Director: Hugo Blick
Starring: John Goodman, Michaela Coel, Noma Dumezweni.
secret life of bees
06 of 30 rewatchSummary: In 1964, a teenage girl in search of the truth about her mother runs away to a small town in South Carolina and finds a family of independent women who can connect her to her past.
Genre: Drama
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Starring: Queen latifah, jennifer hudson, dakota fanning.
liyana
07 of 30 still to watchSummary: Five children in Swaziland dive into their imaginations to create an original African tale about a girl on a dangerous quest.
Genre: Documentary, Animation
Director: Aaron Kopp, Amanda Kopp
Starring: Gcina Mhlophe.
been so long
08 of 30 still to watchSummary: A dedicated single mother who, on an unusual night on the town, is charmed by a handsome yet troubled stranger.
Genre: Drama, Musical, Romance
Director: Tinge Krishnan
Starring: Michaela Coel, Mya Lewis, Arinzé Kene.
i am not your negro
09 of 30 still to watchSummary: Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
Genre: Documentary
Director: Raoul Peck
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King.
B*A*P*S
10 of 30 rewatchSummary: Two tacky homegirls move to L.A. to become dancers; instead they scam a dying millionaire but eventually become B*A*P*S (Black American Princesses).
Genre: Comedy
Director: Robert Townsend
Starring: Halle Berry, Natalie Desselle Reid, Martin Landau.
if beale street could talk
11 of 30 still to watchSummary: A woman in Harlem embraces her pregnancy while she and her family struggle to prove her fiancé innocent of a crime.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Director: Barry Jenkins
Starring: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King.
slice
12 of 30 still to watchSummary: When a pizza delivery driver is murdered on the job, the city searches for someone to blame: ghosts? drug dealers? a disgraced werewolf?
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Fantasy
Director: Austin Vesely
Starring: Zazie Beetz, Chance the Rapper, Rae Gray.
i am not a witch
13 of 30 still to watchSummary: Following a banal incident in her local village, 8-year old girl Shula is accused of witchcraft. After a short trial she is found guilty, taken into state custody and exiled to a witch camp.
Genre: Drama
Director: Rungano Nyoni
Starring: Benfors 'Wee Do, Boyd Banda, Kalundu Banda.
sleight
14 of 30 still to watchSummary: A young street magician (Jacob Latimore) is left to care for his little sister after their parents' passing, and turns to illegal activities to keep a roof over their heads.
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Director: J.D. Dillard
Starring: Jacob Latimore, Seychelle Gabriel, Storm Reid.
night comes on
15 of 30 still to watchSummary: Angel LaMere is released from juvenile detention on the eve of her 18th birthday. Haunted by her past, she embarks on a journey with her 10 year-old sister that could destroy their future.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jordana Spiro
Starring: Dominique Fishback, Tatum Marilyn Hall, Nastashia Fuller.
they die by dawn
16 of 30 still to watchSummary: Four outlaws with a bounty on each head, set a date for a shootout in Langston, Oklahoma. The last man takes the collective bounty. Violence and mayhem ensue.
Genre: Western
Director: Jeymes Samuel
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Erykah Badu, Jesse Williams.
the learning tree
17 of 30 still to watchSummary: The story, set in Kansas during the 1920s, covers less than a year in the life of a black teenager, and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood.
Genre: Drama
Director: Gordon Parks
Starring: Kyle Johnson, Alex Clarke, Estelle Evans.
nothing but a man
18 of 39 rewatchSummary: A proud black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Michael Roemer
Starring: Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Julius Harris.
cleopatra jones
19 of 30 rewatchSummary: During the 1970s, U.S. Special Agent Cleopatra Jones proves to be an invaluable asset to the local police forces in the war on drugs.
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Director: Jack Starrett
Starring: Tamara Dobson, Bernie Casey, Brenda Sykes.
the night catches us
20 of 39 rewatchSummary: In 1976, complex political and emotional forces are set in motion when a young man returns to the race-torn Philadelphia neighborhood where he came of age during the Black Power movement.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Tanya Hamilton
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Jamara Griffin.
american violet
21 of 30 rewatchSummary: A single mother struggles to clear her name after being wrongly accused and arrested for dealing drugs in an impoverished town in Texas.
Genre: Drama
Director: Tim Disney
Starring: Nicole Beharie, Will Patton, Alfre Woodard.
blackkklansman
22 of 30 still to watchSummary: Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier.
talk to me
23 of 30 rewatchSummary: The story of Washington D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist in the 1960s.
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Starring: Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bruce McFee.
suicide by sunlight
24 of 30 still to watchSummary: Valentina, a day-walking Black vampire protected from the sun by her melanin, finds it difficult to suppress her bloodlust when a new woman is introduced to her estranged twin daughters.
Genre: Short, Drama, Horror
Director: Nikyatu Jusu
Starring: Natalie Paul, Teren Carter, Motell Gyn Foster.
hair wolf
25 of 30 still to watchSummary: The staff of a black hair salon fend off a strange new monster: white women intent on sucking the lifeblood from black culture.
Genre: Short, Comedy, Horror
Director: Mariama Diallo
Starring: Kara Young, Taliah Webster, Madeline Weinstein.
daughters of the dust
26 of 30 still to watchSummary: At the dawn of the 20th century, a family in the Gullah community of coastal South Carolina -- former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors' Yoruba traditions -- suffers a generational split.
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Director: Julie Dash
Starring: Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbarao.
an oversimplification of her beauty
27 of 30 still to watchSummary: An artist's shortsighted film about a failed relationship is reedited into a more collaborative, more inclusive work of art.
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
Director: Terence Nance
Starring: Alisa Becher, Jc Cain, Dexter Jones.
first match
28 of 30 still to watchSummary: Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the boys wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.
Genre: Drama, Sport
Director: Olivia Newman
Starring: Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo.
pariah
29 of 30 rewatchSummary: A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Genre: Drama
Director: Dee Rees
Starring: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Aasha Davis.
little boxes
30 of 30 watchedSummary: An interracial family struggles to adjust when they move from New York City to a small, predominately white town in Washington State.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Rob Meyer
Starring: Nelsan Ellis, Melanie Lynskey, Armani Jackson.