Five Great Black Films You’ve Never Seen
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KILLER OF SHEEPWhat INVISIBLE MAN is to literature, KILLER OF SHEEP (by Charles Burnett) is to cinema. It’s one of the few black films in the Library of Congress collection, and one of the few independent films as well. |
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BLACK AT YALEThis was my brother Warrington’s first film, done when he was a senior at Yale, about race, class, identity and everything else black folks still haven’t figured out. Brilliant. Really. I mean, he’s my brother and all, but it’s really brilliant.
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BLACK ORPHEUSOkay, I may be cheating here because I don’t know the ethnicity of the director (probably white Brazilian) but damn, this movie is the best black love story ever made. The music, the dancing, the costumes, the scenery, the full range of black beauty, the fidelity to the funk’s a must see. |
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LUMUMBAI couldn’t convince anyone to see it during its theatrical run, but thanks to HBO it is available on home video, and they still rerun it on their network, so you can catch it. The best black political film I’ve ever seen is about a man who should be mentioned in the same breath as Martin and Malcolm (too bad his name didn’t start with an “M” at least we have Mandela). |
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BADASSSS!This one really shouldn’t be on the list, because it came out so recently, but the fact that SOUL PLANE made 7 times as much money as this film is a national shame. Mario Van Peebles gives the performance of his life as he plays his father as he creates the most important black film ever made. Inspirational. |
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