BLACK LIVES MATTER FILMS
Just Mercy, Selma +more Free Movies To Stream
In the wake of the protests that have erupted across the country in response to George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, film studios and streaming services, in the hopes of educating and opening a dialogue on racism in America, have decided to either heavily promote or even make free films that deal with racism. WB was the first studio, when they made the film Just Mercy, which, until last week, was available to rent for $5.99, free to rent on all VOD platforms for the rest of June. Just Mercy tells the true story of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a Black man who was wrongfully convicted for the murder of an 18-year-old girl. Sentenced to die, things began to turn around when young civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) took his case.
Just Mercy may have been the first movie made available to rent for free, but it isn’t the last. Ava DuVernay’s Selma, which tells the true story of Martin Luther King Jr’s (David Oyelowo) march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery which resulted in the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has also been made free to rent on YouTube, Google Play, and Amazon. Universal followed suit and made Brian Banks, the true story of high school football star Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) who finds his life upended when he is wrongly convicted for a crime he didn’t commit, free to rent. And Disney joined in by availing The Hate U Give, The Secret Life of Bees, and Antoine Fisher all free to rent as well.
Over on the streaming side, Netflix has created an entire section dedicated to Black Lives Matter. The section highlights titles like the Michelle Obama documentary Becoming, and Ava DuVernay’s documentary about the American prison system, 13th. However, unlike the free rentals which you can order via a one-time transaction, you still need a subscription to Netflix to watch any of the content in the Black Live Matter category. The same goes for Amazon Prime, where they have created a featured category called Black History, Hardship & Hope. The Criterion Channel however has removed the paywall on select films that are either by Black filmmakers, or deal with the Black experience. Featured free titles include Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust, Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman, and more.
