Killer of Sheep (1977), Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005), Rize (2005), Daughters of the Dust (1991), Finding Buck McHenry (2000), Soul Men (2008), Five on the Black Hand Side (1973), The Longshots (2008) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best African American Culture movies.
Storyline: Stan works in drudgery at a slaughterhouse. His personal life is drab. Dissatisfaction and ennui keep him unresponsive to the needs of his adoring wife, and he must struggle against influences which would dishonor and endanger him and his family.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: independent film, realism, working class, los angeles, social commentary, everyday life, poetic ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Dave Chappelle presents a Brooklyn neighborhood with its very own once-in-a-lifetime free block party. In addition to Chappelle, the roster of artists includes Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Dead Prez, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, the Roots, Cody ChesnuTT, Big Daddy Kane, and - reunited for their first performance in over seven years - the Fugees. Includes private rehearsals footage and Chappelle in the small Ohio town he calls home, where he wanders through town handing out golden tickets to invite several dozen citizens to join the party, providing transportation and lodging for their visit to Brooklyn. Ohio's Central State University marching band makes the trip and kicks off the festivities at the intersection of Quincy and Downing Streets. A diverse crowd and Chappelle's freestyle wit guides them (and us) through a celebration of music and comedy, history and community.—Focus Features
Plot Keywords: comedy, music, documentary, live performance, hip hop, improvisation, social commentary ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Reveals a groundbreaking dance phenomenon that's exploding on the streets of South Central, Los Angeles. Taking advantage of unprecedented access, this documentary film bring to first light a revolutionary form of artistic expression borne from oppression. The aggressive and visually stunning dance modernizes moves indigenous to African tribal rituals and features mind-blowing, athletic movement sped up to impossible speeds. We meet Tommy Johnson (Tommy the Clown), who first created the style as a response to the 1992 Rodney King riots and named it Clowning, as well as the kids who developed the movement into what they now call Krumping. The kids use dance as an alternative to gangs and hustling: they form their own troupe and paint their faces like warriors, meeting to outperform rival gangs of dancers or just to hone their skills. For the dancers, Krumping becomes a way of life--and, because it's authentic expression (in complete opposition to the bling-bling hip-hop culture), the dance becomes a vital part of who they are.—Sujit R. Varma
Plot Keywords: documentary, dance, los angeles, street dance, performance, youth culture, music ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Languid look at the Gullah culture of the sea islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia where African folk-ways were maintained well into the 20th Century and was one of the last bastions of these mores in America. Set in 1902.—John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
Plot Keywords: independent film, female director, historical drama, family saga, visual art, cultural heritage, female perspective ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Jason (Michael Schiffman) is an 11-year-old with a passion for baseball, and one big problem -- he has been cut from his Little League Team. Now he wants to start a team of his own, but if he is to do so, he needs a coach. So he turns to the man who loves baseball as much as he does: Mack Henry (Ossie Davis), the school's custodian. The fountain of knowledge that can be seen through Mack's coaching, however, leads Jason to suspect that he may actually be Buck McHenry, ex-Negro League star.
Plot Keywords: family, children, sports, friendship, coming of age, dreams, inspirational ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When R&B legend Marcus Hooks dies suddenly, VH-1 invites his original back up duo, Floyd Henderson and Louis Hinds, "The Real Deal," to appear at a memorial tribute at the Apollo Theater. Floyd, who's bored in retirement, wants this more than anything; Louis, a philosophical ex-con, does not. Plus, there's bad blood between them (Louis's wife Odetta left him to marry Floyd - then left Floyd). Floyd begs, Louis consents but won't fly, so they leave L.A. in Floyd's flashy Cadillac with five days to get to New York. On the road, they must get back their vocal chops, renew their friendship, and sort out the past. With Floyd's bad hip and Louis's bad kidneys, will they even make it?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: musical, comedy, bromance, road movie, reunion, nostalgia, show business ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In contrast to most of the violence-laden "blaxploitation" films of the period, this low-budget effort eschews exploitation for humanity and domestic drama. Leonard Jackson plays a barber who is also the domineering head of a middle-class African American family. Jackson is forced to rethink his values when his previously docile wife joins their three children in rebelling against her husband's retrogressive behavior.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: comedy, drama, family, social satire, 1970s, race relations, gender roles ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The true story of Jasmine Plummer who, at the age of eleven, became the first female to play in Pop Warner football tournament in its 56-year history.
Plot Keywords: sports, inspirational, family, comedy, teen, football, small town life ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A bar owner attempts to discredit the new preacher with whom he is feuding by framing him with a photograph showing him drinking with women with bad reputations. The bar owner's adoptive mother, a member of the minister's church, supports the preacher and gets the photographic prints. When the bar owner struggles with his mother for the prints, he accidentally kills her. After the preacher's funeral sermon, the bar owner's conscience drives him to his death.—Gary Imhoff, gary@dcwatch.com
Plot Keywords: religion, independent film, low budget, allegory, redemption, soul, sin ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: This documentary focuses on William Howard Taft Armstrong, (better known as Louie Bluie), a Tennessee blues musician and folk artist known for his ability to play just about every stringed instrument known to man. He recounts the old days of the '30s and '40s, engaging in lively reminiscences with his friends and fellow musicians. When words are not enough, Louie pulls out his sketchpad and illustrates his thoughts with quickly executed drawings.
Plot Keywords: documentary, music, art, musician biography, independent film, american south, cultural heritage ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Although "Mardi Gras" immediately brings to mind New Orleans for most people, the first Mardi Gras in America was actually held in Mobile, Ala., over 300 years ago. Remarkably, even in 2007, the festivities remain racially segregated, with two pairs of kings and queens -- one black, one white. Filmmaker Margaret Brown takes us through the divided zones of Mobile's current Mardi Gras celebrations as numerous participants attempt to initiate an integration between black and white revelers.
Plot Keywords: documentary, race relations, tradition, history, social commentary, class divide, community ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Tiffany travels to Derrick Lake to celebrate her 18th birthday at a Halloween frat party in the middle of the woods. Frantic and worried, Madea, Aunt Bam and Hattie hop in the car to save her from the same terrible fate that befell a group of teens there years earlier. Chaos soon strikes when the would-be heroes find themselves fighting for their lives against an array of spooky monsters, goblins and boogeymen.
Plot Keywords: comedy, horror, halloween, family, humor, sequel, usa ...
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