Sapelo

Booker T. Washington: The Life and the Legacy

1982

Traces the life of Booker T. Washington, ex-slave, author, educator, and political leader, focusing on his stewardship of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Uses historic photographs, re-created vignettes, and interviews with contemporaries such as W.E.B. DuBois to present Washington's complex personality and his influence on southern life after the Civil War. Also examines his controversial policies of Black economic self-reliance and political accommodation

Our Alexandria

2020

Two artists from Alexandria, Virginia, revisit the town’s segregated past and tell the story of family, friendship, loss, and love through historical dollhouses.

Odessa's Reign

2021

Black women had extremely limited options during Jim Crow. Odessa’s story explores how an African American woman born in a time with limited options leveraged her incredible mind and quick wit to become wealthier than she ever should have been able to This film takes a look at choices that were made, a wild ride Odessa had as an underworld queen, and consequences from her choices Odessa Madre’s life was a mix of resilience and bookend by the vicissitudes of luck, a contrast of economic success within

The Picture Taker

2022

From his Memphis studio, Ernest Withers’ nearly 2 million images were a treasured record of Black history but his legacy was complicated by decades of secret FBI service revealed only after his death. Was he a friend of the civil rights community, or enemy—or both?

The Black Contribution: Literature and Theatre

1978

The Black Contribution – Literature and Theater 1978 is a rare documentary highlighting the voices and cultural impact of African American writers and performers during the civil rights era. Introduced by NAACP leader Benjamin Hooks and narrated by Roscoe Lee Brown, the film weaves together dramatic readings, theatrical excerpts, and candid urban street footage. Margaret Walker’s poem For My People is performed alongside scenes of daily Black life in New York City — children playing, families on stoops, open fire hydrants, and the realities of poverty in 1970s neighborhoods. James Baldwin appears in interview footage, while signs for his play The Amen Corner and stage excerpts from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun underscore the powerful presence of Black voices in American theater. With rare shots of Harlem life, literature, and performance, this film documents the enduring contributions of African American artists to U.S. culture and history.

DOUBOUT OUBIEN MÔ

Since August 2024, in Martinique, a popular protest movement against the high cost of living has been reemerging under the leadership of the RPPRAC (Rassemblement Pour La Protection Des Peuples Et Des Ressources Afro-Caribéens – Gathering for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources). On the island, food prices are on average 54% higher than in mainland France.* Through various cultural figures, the people of Martinique are expressing their anger and seeking concrete solutions. *Source: Kiprix, Price comparison between supermarkets in the French overseas territories and mainland France.

Is That Black Enough for You?!?

2022 · ★ 6.1

A look at the Black revolution in 1970s cinema, from genre films to social realism, from the making of new superstars to the craft of rising auteurs.

George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute

1937 · ★ 5.7

Color footage of inventor George Washington Carver at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Dr. Carver is filmed at his apartment, office, laboratory, and garden.

A Distant Shore: African Americans on D-Day

2007

The role of African American soldiers during the World War II Allied invasion of Normandy.

The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story

2000 · ★ 9

Documents the race riot of 1921 and the destruction of the African-American community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With testimony by eyewitnesses and background accounts by historians.

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

2004 · ★ 7.2

The story of Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion.

Black Sam's Statue

2015

Using newly uncovered historical documents, this documentary short pieces together the most complete and accurate account of the life of Viro Small ever told. Nicknamed "Black Sam of Vermont" for his ties to the Green Mountain State, Small was a pro wrestling pioneer who reached the height of his notoriety in 1880's New York City.