February is Black History Month and what better way to look back and explore that rich history than through cinema and the work of many important African-American film makers. Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott, film critics of the New York Times, have selected twenty-eight films that they recommend to be seen which examines the vibrant yet challenging life and history of African-Americans throughout the 20th century.
Beginning with early black film makers like Oscar Micheaux and Spencer Williams who made what were then called "race movies" in the 1920's and made specifically for black audiences. When African-Americans did appear on screen in Hollywood films in '30's and '40's, they were mostly assigned to the role of maids and butlers but glamorous stars did manage to emerge like Lena Horne who starred in the all-black musical, "Stormy Weather" and even appeared in mainstream Hollywood musicals although her scenes were easily removed when screened in the segregated South. By the 1960's, social issues began to take shape in films like Gordon Parks’s “The Learning Tree” and the very first black Hollywood superstar arrived; Sidney Poitier. "Blaxploitation" films began in the 1970's designed to instill pride and rage against oppression. And thrilling independent cinema came on the scene in the 1980's which spoke on the varied African-American experience in bold and artistic ways and includes such features as "Killer of Sheep" by Charles Burnett; Marlon Briggs' poetic "Tongues Untied"; Julie Dash's "Daughters of the Dust" and Spike Lee's "She's Gotta Have It".
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28 Days, 28 films For Black History Month
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