Sapelo is a feature-length documentary film that journeys within a unique American island to tell the story of two young brothers, their adoptive mother, and the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people.
And the Dogs Were Silent (1976)
For 'Et les chiens se taisaient' Maldoror adapted a piece of theatre by the poet and politician Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), about a rebel who becomes profoundly aware of his otherness when condemned to death. His existential dialogue with his mother reverberates around the African sculptures on display at the Musée de l'Homme, a Parisian museum full of colonial plunder whose director was the Surrealist anthropologist Michel Leiris.
Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans (2008)
The true story of the neighborhood that inspired David Simon's fictional HBO television series "Tremé", from slave revolts and underground free black antebellum resistance through post-Katrina rebuilding, set to a fabulous soundtrack of New Orleans music through the ages.
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found (2024)
More than 60,000 of Ernest Cole’s 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures he shot in the U.S. Told through Cole’s own writings, the stories of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation and will unravel the mystery of his missing negatives.
Stamped from the Beginning (2023)
Using innovative animation and expert insights, this documentary based on Ibram X. Kendi's bestseller explores the history of racist ideas in America.
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
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2004)
The story of Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion.
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives (2003)
When 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 in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.
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?
Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back (2019)
Maurice Hines, a charming, gay African-American entertainer navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, often estranged younger brother, tap dance legend Gregory Hines.
Henry Browne, Farmer (1942)
Henry Browne, an African American farmer, and his family are profiled in this film. The important job of a farmer during times of war is highlighted, specifically his efforts growing peanuts and cotton. This role is made even more poingnant when they visit the eldest son who is a cadet in the 99th Pursuit Squadron.
Harlem of the West: Then and Now (NaN)
The Fillmore was once a thriving, vibrant, and multicultural community with one of the most prominent jazz scenes on the West Coast and hundreds of black-owned businesses. The neighborhood’s prosperity quickly came to an end as urban redevelopment tore through neighborhoods, pushing thousands of families and businesses out of the area. Despite this, hundreds of community activists today worked tirelessly to help reclaim the “Harlem of the West.”
Is That Black Enough for You?!? (2022)
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.
In Search of Bass Reeves (2024)
By the end of his illustrious career, Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves may well have been the preeminent lawman of the Old West. He brought upwards of 3,000 outlaws to justice and served in law enforcement for 32 years during Reconstruction after the Civil War. His story is one of an escape to freedom and the dangers of the West for a former slave who rose to become a legend of the law. Join us as we go in search of Bass Reeves.
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice (2016)
In 1936, 18 African American athletes dubbed the "black auxiliary" by Hitler defied Nazi Aryan Supremacy and Jim Crow Racism to win hearts and medals at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. The world remembers Jesse Owens. But, Olympic Pride American Prejudice shows how all 18 are a seminal precursor to the modern Civil Rights Movement.
#Rucker50 (2016)
The celebratory explosion of basketball history makers, legend shakers and lawbreakers; juxtaposed against important events in Civil & Human Rights. The 50 years of The Rucker's ripples reverberate throughout Basketball, Hip-Hop, Harlem, and life.
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities (2017)
A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—Black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically Black for 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told.
Big Time (2024)
Civil Rights Movement activist, TSSAA Hall of Fame Basketball Coach, swim coach, teacher, musical director, father, grandfather, and friend to many, Coach Sylvester Ford Sr. was known by many as “Big Time.” The nickname was given to him as a kid for his height, but “Big Time” showed time and time again why his nickname was about way more than his looks– it’s also because of how he showed up big for his community. Hometown Feature Audience Award winner at Indie Memphis 2024, Big Time chronicles the life of legendary Memphis basketball coach, Sylvester Ford Sr., while inspiring us all to live “big time” lives along the way.
African American Historical Society – Migration Stories (NaN)
Citizen Film collaborated with the African American Cultural and Historical Society to produce an initial short film on African American migration, which was screened at African American Art & Culture Complex and other cultural venues around the city during Black History Month, February 2019. This first iteration of the migration stories will pave the way for Citizen Film’s collaborative process with the historical society to include a chorus of voices documenting personal and social histories.
African Americans and the Vote (NaN)
Explore the complicated history of African Americans’ place in San Francisco politics in African Americans and The Vote – a collaboration between Citizen Film and the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society. African Americans and the Vote features San Francisco’s first Black mayor, Willie Brown and members of the next generation of leadership. Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema will be screening African Americans and the Vote virtually Tuesday, October 27 as a part of their “Best of Bernal” live streaming event!