PIVOTAL BLACK STORIES
Seeing, Experiencing + Believing Caused Change
As Black History Month closes, we wanted to take a moment to recognize some of the most pivotal films in cinema. These history-making films are notable any time of the year, and we hope you’ll watch them (if you haven’t already).
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
The 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild is all about resilience. The lead actress, Quvenzhané Wallis, became the youngest person to be nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars. She was 9 at the time.
MOONLIGHT
No film showed Black, queer love quite like Moonlight. Throughout three points in a man’s life, Barry Jenkins’ striking portrait broke many records, including being the first LGBTQ film and the first film with an all-Black cast to win Best Picture.
GET OUT
Get Out brought us writer and director Jordan Peele, who made history as the first Black filmmaker to win an Oscar for Original Screenplay. Peele’s directorial debut profoundly impacted the horror genre and ushered in new talent and socially conscious storylines.
DO THE RIGHT THING
Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing has withstood the test of time — but not in a good way. The film shines a light on police brutality, which remains all too relevant to this day.
SELMA
Ava DuVernay’s Selma was omitted from the Oscars the year of its release, which sparked the #OscarsSoWhite campaign. The film follows Martin Luther King Jr.’s march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery. David Oyelowo plays the iconic Civil Rights leader.
BLACK PANTHER
It was the first Marvel film to feature a Black superhero. It was the first to hire a Black director. And it was the first of its kind to be nominated for Best Picture. For the first time, generations of Black people saw a superhero who looked like them.
THE COLOR PURPLE
The Color Purple marked Steven Spielberg’s eighth movie and his departure from the summer blockbuster. The 1985 film marked both Whoopi Goldberg’s and Oprah’s first acting roles. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, yet it failed to win any.
SUMMER OF SOUL
OK, this isn’t available yet, but the Sundance entry is already proving to be monumental. Questlove of The Roots directed this documentary with the full title of Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). The doc will screen on Hulu with Searchlight Pictures (part of the Disney company, which owns Hulu) as the distributor. We can’t wait to see it.
