African-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.
Operation Breadbasket (1969)
Actor Robert Culp narrates this special examining the use of boycotts by African-Americans as a way of obtaining jobs.
The L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin (2014)
Gay women living in the Deep South of the United States share stories of the bigotry, sexism, intimidation, and racism that confronts them in a part of the country known for its culture of Christian conservatism.
Zydeco (1984)
Shot on location in rural Southwestern Louisiana, Zydeco combines cinema verite style footage, interviews and musical performance to present a colorful, joyful portrait of the zydeco musicians in their culture. Featuring Dolon Carriere, Armand Ardoin, and Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin. A film by Nicholas R. Spitzer. Color, 57 minutes.
Soul Food Junkies (2012)
To many African Americans, soul food is sacrament, ritual, and a key expression of cultural identity. But does this traditional cuisine do more harm to health than it soothes the soul?
The Story of Funk: One Nation Under a Groove (2014)
A documentary on funk and P-funk and the bands and artists that made it all happen: James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Maurice White and his Earth Wind & Fire, Average White Band, Kool & The Gang and lots more. It tells the story of black American music and how it evolved from funk to more main stream to disco to hiphop to contemporary R 'n B and its impact on society. Music and live footage from the bands, interviews with artists and band members of Kool & The Gang, Earth Wind & Fire, George Clinton and lots more.
Bill T. Jones: Still/Here (1997)
Bill Moyers and filmmaker David Grubin give viewers a rare glimpse into dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones’s highly acclaimed dance Still/Here. At workshops around the country, people facing life-threatening illnesses are asked to remember the highs and lows of their lives, and even imagine their own deaths. They then transform their feelings into expressive movement, which Jones incorporates into the dance performed later in the program. For this documentary, Jones demonstrates the movements of his own life story: his first encounter with white people, confusion over his sexuality, his partner Arnie Zane’s untimely death from AIDS, and Jones’s own HIV-positive status.
PAJUBÁ - Vivendo a Interseccionalidade (2018)
"Pajubá" is a language created by black LGBTs as a mode of resistance. Given this, the present short film seeks to rescue the reality of people who experience in their own skin the strength of intersectionality between race, gender and sexuality in the São Francisco Valley region.
Echoes 'Cross the Tracks (2012)
A powerful documentary starring Morgan Freeman about the genesis of The Blues in the South and the music spreading around the world. Morgan Freeman shares his story of his experience of growing up in Clarksdale, Mississippi and his love for the Blues.
Yooper Creoles: Finnish Music in Michigan's Copper Country (2019)
When the immigrants came to America, their cultures entered the "great melting pot." In Michigan's Upper Peninsula Finnish immigrants mixed their musical traditions with many other cultures, creating a sound that was unique to the "Copper Country."
Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution (2023)
From the sweaty basement bars of 70s New York to the glittering peak of the global charts, how disco conquered the world - its origins, its triumphs, its fall and its legacy.
Bittersweet (2023)
An oral history documentary of people of color at Miami University during its Public Ivy period—from 1970 to the early 2000s.
Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn (2023)
An inspiring love story about a self-described “poor, gay, black man from North Philly” on his historic run for the United States Senate. But this race is about more than taking on the political competition. It’s about taking on an entire system.
America's Untold Journey: 450 Years of the African American Experience (2016)
Chronicles over four centuries of African American influence on the development of the modern-day United States. Before Plymouth Rock and Jamestown, St. Augustine, FL had built a multicultural colony of free and enslaved men and women. This small colony would eventually set the stage for the first Underground Railroad in the late 1600s. Then, 300 years later, be the epicenter of events that would lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
bell hooks: Cultural Criticism & Transformation (1997)
bell hooks is one of America's most accessible public intellectuals. In this two-part video, extensively illustrated with many of the images under analysis, she makes a compelling argument for the transformative power of cultural criticism.
Paris Is Burning (1991)
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.
Tear the Roof Off: The Untold Story of Parliament Funkadelic (2016)
The untold true story: The rise and fall of the greatest funk band ever, Parliament Funkadelic.
South to Black Power (2023)
In his provocative 2021 book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, New York Times opinion columnist Charles M. Blow calls for a “reverse Great Migration” of African Americans from the North back to the South to upend today’s political power structures while reclaiming the land and culture they left behind. South to Black Power does more than illustrate Blow’s enlightening ideas; we journey through Blow’s personal story, from his childhood in Louisiana to his role as father to young adult children in New York City, showing us the hard-won truths behind his vision for the future.
The Singer: A Montford Point Marine (2023)
“The Singer: A Montford Point Marine” tells the story of Henry Charles Johnson, one of the first African Americans in the U.S. Marine Corps and a professional crooner. Lured by the dignified Marine uniform and the allure of the G.I. Bill, he's abruptly thrown into the bare, segregated world of Camp Montford Point, a far cry from the lush expansiveness of Camp Lejeune he'd imagined. The harsh realities of Southern segregation strike a jarring contrast to his accustomed diversity of Manhattan, escalating further with hostility from drill instructors. Undeterred, his resolve is galvanized by the dream of donning the Marine uniform and the prospects following discharge. Post-discharge, Johnson immerses himself in New York's music scene, enchanting audiences with his soulful, Sinatra-esque timbre. This riveting narrative portrays the unmatched fortitude of the Montford Point Marines, representing a crucial African-American, American, and globally relevant human experience.