Nov 18, 2010

On Nov. 18, 1928, Walt Disney's first sound-synchronized animated cartoon, "Steamboat Willie" starring Mickey Mouse, premiered in New York

Feb 5, 2010

Continuing our celebration of 100 Years of Black Cinema, the next part of “Within Our Gates”, an early work of one of one of Black Cinema’s founding fathers — Oscar Micheaux.

Feb 5, 2010

Continuing our look at 100 years of Black Cinema, here’s part 3 of another early work by Oscar Micheaux. Made in 1939, “Lying Lips” was Micheaux’s 37th film. It stars Edna Mae Harris and Robert Earl Jones (James Earl Jones’ father). SYNOPSIS: Elsie, a popular nightclub singer, refuses to go out with the customers at the request of...

Feb 3, 2010

Film school continues as we look at another Micheaux film, this one from 1939 starring Edna Mae Harris and Robert Earl Jones.

Feb 3, 2010

Continuing our celebration of 100 Years of Black Cinema, Part 3 of "Within Our Gates", an early work of one of one of Black Cinema's founding fathers -- Oscar Micheaux.

Feb 2, 2010

Continuing our celebration of 100 Years of Black Cinema, Part 2 of "Within Our Gates", an early work of one of one of Black Cinema's founding fathers -- Oscar Micheaux.

Feb 1, 2010

Watch "Within Our Gates", the oldest known surviving film made by an African-American director.

Jun 20, 2009

In it’s fourth year, Black World Cinema is a showcase of seldom seen classic features and new films from around the world. Black World Cinema presents films by filmmakers that bring us story with compelling content and human dimension seldom presented in mainstream cinema. All screenings are followed by lively discussions moderated by program director (and...

May 15, 2009

(Mumbai) Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan is screening his much-talked about film “Kites” with co-star Barbara Mori, said his father Rakesh Roshan, who also added that he will project the movie as his production house’s first truly international product. Director Anurag Basu will also join them. Hrithik, Anurag, representatives from Big Pictures...

May 12, 2009

With an announcement apparently timed to support California’s proposal to legalize weed, Variety reports today that there is an American Gladiator movie in the works. And it’s NOT a Will Ferrell or Ben Stiller movie. Some ideas are best for YouTube, and that’s that. Johnny Ferraro, creator of the “American Gladiators” TV...

May 8, 2009

There was some back and forth about this film, which isn’t rated yet, and will be released November 6. Mostly, the confusion was around who was distributing it. Well, looks like it’s settled. Lionsgate has the film, and is officially referring to it as “in association with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry”. Now, this is sort of odd, because...

Apr 6, 2009

A musical road movie, Youssou N’Dour: Return to Gorée follows Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour’s historical journey tracing the trail left by slaves and the jazz music they created. Youssou N’Dour’s challenge is to bring back to Africa a jazz repertoire of his own songs to perform a concert in Gorée, the island that today...

Chef! is a British sitcom starring comedian Lenny Henry (and based on an idea he had) that aired as twenty episodes over three series from 1993 to 1996 on the BBC. The show was created and primarily written by Peter Tilbury and produced for the BBC by Henry’s production company Crucial Films. Henry starred as Gareth Blackstock, a talented and obsessive...

Directed by Anthony Simmons and starring Norman Beaton (who later became known from the TV series “Desmond’s), “Black Joy” is adapted from Dark Days and Light Nights, a stage play by Jamal Ali. It’s the story of an immigrant country boy from Guyana who comes to Brixton, London and gets shown the streets on 70′s London. This...

HUNGER is the stunningly assured debut feature from Turner Prize-winning visual artist Steve McQueen. Winner of the 2008 Cannes Camera d’Or among other top international prizes, the film is a work of astonishing precision co-written by acclaimed Irish playwright Enda Walsh and starring Michael Fassbender (300, Tarantino’s upcoming INGLOURIOUS...

“A lot can go down between Thursday and Saturday…” When you’re spotlighting important Black contributions in film, it’s easy to lean towards the ultra-serious films and dramas, and look over the long history of influential comedy films. Since we’re on a bit of a 90′s kick this week, we can’t forget one of the most...

In the early 1990s, “Marketing Black” was very important in America. The biggest brand in the world was a Black man…Michael Jordan. One important figure in the marketing of Black America was, without a doubt, Spike Lee. Spike had gone from indie filmmaker to voice of the people in the span of 5 films. In November of 1992, one film made an...

Drop Squad is a 1994 comedy about an underground militant group that kidnaps African-Americans who have sold out their race. The story follows as the group, led by Vondie Curtis-Hall and Ving Rhames kidnaps an advertising executive (Eric La Salle) who has been providing advertising programs that belittles blacks and women. One advertisement features Spike Lee...

“The changes I’m going to make will be minimal. I’m not gonna rock the boat. Rockin’ the boat’s a drag. What you do is sink the boat! And there’s no sense sinkin’ nothin’ unless you can salvage with productive alternatives. And brothers, you can’t change nothin’ with rhetoric and slogans. Because if a...

Feb 17, 2009

If you were in film school or entering the entertainment industry in the late 80s or early 90s, you had a moment (or two) where you completely related to a scene in “Hollywood Shuffle”. The late 80s were time when we all learned that you could finance a film on credit cards, and Hollywood Shuffle was a grand example! This satirical look at the...

Feb 16, 2009

Here’s one of those strange films that makes the list even though it’s not exactly “Black Cinema”. Basquiat is a 1996 film directed by Julian Schnabel which is based on the life of American postmodernist/neo expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Basquiat, born in Brooklyn, used his graffiti roots as a foundation to create...

Feb 12, 2009

When we sat down and discussed what film were the best romantic films for the series, one movie title kept coming up on everybody’s lists. Love & Basketball, released in 2000, is a romantic dramatic picture, written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. This film stars Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. It’s about two next-door neighbors who grew up...

Daughters of the Dust is a 1991 independent film written and directed by Julie Dash. It’s the story of three generations of Gullah women at the turn of the 20th century and focuses on the family’s migration from the Sea Islands to the American mainland. The film is told from the perspective of by an unborn child. The film is often praised highly ...

This is a story based on an actual incident, an American tragedy that everyone involved tried to forget or deny… During the first week of January, 1923, Rosewood, a flourishing black town in central Florida, was burned to the ground by whites from the neighboring, less prosperous, town of Sumner. Fueled by a white woman’s falsified story that she was...