BLACK WORLD CINEMA:
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31 GREAT FILMS
ince the beginning of the twentieth century and up until the modern day, film has been one of the most effective mediums people of African descent have used to tell stories about who they are and to revision their history. The following is a list of titles that have made a creative and social impact over the last decade. In alphabetical order, they range from Oscar winners to first time Directors working across varied genres, languages and budgets. These titles in their content, language and style have widen the discourse about identity and also shown the extent to which the black experience is part of the human story. 1. 12 Years A Slave (Dir: Steve McQueen, 2014) 2. A Screaming Man (Dir: Mahamat Saleh Haroun, 2011) 3. An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (Dir: Terence Nance, 2014) 4. Besuro aka The Assailant (Dir: João Daniel Tikhomiroff, 2009) 5. Black Girl (Dir: Ousmane Sembène, 1966) 6. Black Orpheus (Dir: Marcel Camus. 1959) 7. Coming to America (Dir: John Landis, 1988) 8. Cuba, An African Odyssey (Dir: Jihan El Tahri, 2007) 9. Dancehall Queen (Dir: Don Letts, 1997) 10. Daughters of the Dust (Dir: Julie Dash, 1993) 11. Divines (Dir: Uda Benyamina, 2016) 12. I Am Not Your Negro (Dir: Raoul Peck, 2016) 13. Malcolm X (Dir: Spike Lee, 1992) 14. Moonlight (Dir: Barry Jenkins, 2016) 15. Nairobi Half Life (Dir: David Tosh Gitonga, 2012) 16. Osuofia in London (Dir: Kingsley Ogoro, 2003) 17. Paris is Burning (Dir: Jennie Livingston, 1990) 18. Pressure (Dir: Horace Ové, 1976) 19. Sankofa (Dir: Haile Gerima, 1993) 20. Set It Off (Dir: F. Gary Gray, 1996) 21. The Spook Who Sat by the Door (Dir: Ivan Dixon, 1973) 22. Straight Outta of Compton (Dir: F. Gary Gray, 2015) 23. Sugar Cane Alley (Dir: Euzhan Palcy, 1983) 24. The Figurine (Dir: Kunle Afolayan, 2009) 25. The Great Debaters (Dir: Denzel Washington, 2007) 26. The Harder They Come (Dir: Perry Henzell, 1972) 27. Timbuktu (Dir: Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014) Black History Month is still relevant, though 28. To Sleep With Anger (Dir: Charles Burnett, 1990) my own personal view is that the emphasis 29. Tsotsi (Dir: Gavin Hood, 2005) should be on activity throughout the year 30. Viva Riva (Dir: Djo Tunda Wa Munga, 2010) rather than just for one month. 31. Black Panther (Dir: Ryan Coogler, 2018)
BY NADIA DENTON Nadia Denton has been working in the film industry for over a decade primarily in the areas of curation and audience development. In 2016 she presented a second edition of BEYOND NOLLYWOOD as part of the BLACK STAR season at the BFI Southbank. She formally entered the industry running bfm Film Club a monthly platform for Black World Cinema at the ICA in 2004. She has written two books which include and The Black British Filmmaker’s Guide to Success and The Nigerian Filmmaker’s Guide to Success: Beyond Nollywood. She has been featured as a speaker at the Houses of Parliament, The Battle of Ideas Festival, Sheffield Doc Fest and Cannes Film Festival. Most recently, she co-produced SHOOTING IN LIKE A WOMAN a BBC World Service radio documentary that looks at the fortunes of female producers in the Nigerian film industry. Nadia has a degree in Modern History from St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. She is a member of BAFTA.
