The Definitive List Of African Diaspora Documentaries!
Here is an amazing collection of Black/African documentaries!
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- CreatorHenry HamptonStarsJulian BondCoretta Scott KingJohn LewisA documentary about the American Civil Rights Movement from 1952 to 1965.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsBlair AndersonOmar BarbourJulian BondThis documentary tells the rise and fall of the Black Panther Party, one of the 20th century's most alluring and controversial organizations that captivated the world's attention for nearly 50 years.
- DirectorLiz GarbusStarsNina SimoneLisa Simone KellyRoger NupieA documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
- DirectorRaoul PeckStarsSamuel L. JacksonJames BaldwinMartin Luther KingWriter James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.
- DirectorGöran Hugo OlssonStarsAngela DavisStokely CarmichaelBobby SealeFootage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.
- DirectorKen BurnsSarah BurnsDavid McMahonStarsAntron McCrayKevin RichardsonKharey WiseA documentary that examines the 1989 case of five black and Latino teenagers who were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After having spent between 6 and 13 years each in prison, a serial rapist confessed to the crime.
- DirectorMark N. HopkinsStarsDavinder GillChiara LeporaChris BrasherIn the war-zones of Liberia and Congo, four volunteers with Doctors Without Borders struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme conditions.
- DirectorSteve JamesStarsTio HardimanAmeena MatthewsToya BateyA year in the life of a city grappling with urban violence.
- DirectorJeffrey Kusama-HinteStarsMuhammad AliJames BrownDon KingA filmed account of the Zaire 74 soul music festival, originally intended to be in concert with the famous Rumble in the Jungle bout in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974.
- DirectorHoward AlkStarsSkip AndrewEdward CarmodyJames DavisA chronicle of Fred Hampton's revolutionary leadership of the Illinois Black Panther Party, followed by an investigation into his assassination at the hands of the Chicago Police Department.
- DirectorLee HirschStarsAbdullah IbrahimDuma Ka NdlovuVusi MahlaselaInterviews, archival footage, and filmed performances highlight the role of music in the South African struggle against apartheid.
- DirectorRita CoburnBob HerculesStarsCicely TysonGuy JohnsonDiahann CarrollThe first feature documentary about the remarkable writer, poet, actress, activist Maya Angelou.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsCompay SegundoIbrahim FerrerRubén GonzálezAging Cuban musicians whose talents had been virtually forgotten following Castro's takeover of Cuba, are brought out of retirement by Ry Cooder, who travelled to Havana in order to bring the musicians together, resulting in triumphant performances of extraordinary music, and resurrecting the musicians' careers.
- DirectorCharlotte ZwerinStarsThelonious MonkJohn ColtraneJimmy ClevelandA documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
- DirectorMichael RapaportStarsQ-TipPhife DawgAli Shaheed MuhammadMichael Rapaport documents the inner workings and behind the scenes drama that follows this innovative and influential band to this day.
- DirectorMika KaurismäkiStarsMiriam MakebaBageot BahHarry BelafonteDocumentary about Miriam Makeba.
- DirectorD. Channsin BerryBill DukeStarsSoren BakerRonald BoutelleJoni BovillDocumentary exploring the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color---particularly dark skinned women, outside of and within the Black American culture.
- DirectorJeff StilsonStarsChris RockMaya AngelouAl SharptonChris Rock explores the wonders of African-American hairstyles.
- DirectorDom PedroStarsJuan Carlos CáceresTango Negro, The African Roots of Tango by Angolan filmmaker Dom Pedro explores the expression of Tango's Africanness and the contribution of African cultures in the creation of the tango. Tango was a reflection of the social life of the slaves that were taken to South America - including Argentina and Uruguay - mostly from central Africa, particularly from the former Kongo Kingdom. Director Dom Pedro reveals the depth of the footprints of the African music on the tango, through this rich movie combining musical performances and interviews from many tango fans and historians in Latin America and Europe, including the renowned Argentinean pianist Juan Carlos Caceres.
- DirectorEmma ChristopherStarsJoe AllieLucy AmaraCuco CasanovaAfro-Cubans preserve ancestral traditions. A filmmaker traces roots to Sierra Leone, where villagers recognize lost kin's customs. A joyous festival reunites the long-separated family through shared cultural heritage.
- DirectorMatt MocharyJeff ZimbalistStarsAndre Luis AzevedoJosé JúniorMichele MoraesA man emerges from the slums of Rio to lead the nonviolent cultural movement known as Afro-reggae.
- StarsHenry Louis Gates Jr.Zezé MottaMarial Iglesias YutsetIn a style similar to "Wonders of the African World", Skip Gates will travel to places in Latin America where Africa has touched the continent with lasting cultural results to explore what happens when African and Hispanic worlds meet.
- DirectorRenato BarbieriStarsJoão AcaiabeGésio AmadeuMme AmeganDocumentary about the African influence on Brazilian religiosity.
- DirectorJonathan Lewis
- DirectorAngel SerranoAlvaro ToepkeStarsVertamae GrosvenorTHE LANGUAGE YOU CRY IN tells an amazing scholarly detective story that searches for, and finds meaningful links between African Americans and their ancestral past. It bridges hundreds of years and thousands of miles from the Gullah people of present-day Georgia back to 18th century Sierra Leone. It recounts the even more remarkable saga of how African Americans have retained links with their African past through the horrors of the middle passage, slavery and segregation. The film dramatically demonstrates the contribution of contemporary scholarship to restoring what narrator Vertamae Grosvenor calls the "non-history" imposed on African Americans: "This is a story of memory, how the memory of a family was pieced together through a song with legendary powers to connect those who sang it with their roots."
- 20136 epsTV-PG8.7 (291)TV Mini SeriesStarsHenry Louis Gates Jr.Vincent BrownBernard E. Powers Jr.Professor Gates describes the history of the African American people by talking to historians, authors, and the people who made history.
- StarsOprah WinfreyNasCornel WestDocumentary with host Henry Louis Gates Jr. chronicles the triumphs, struggles and contradictions of the last fifty years in African American History.
- 201354mTV-PG8.2 (16)TV EpisodeDirectorSabin StreeterStarsHenry Louis Gates Jr.James H. SweetChristopher L. BrownFrom PBS: "The Black Atlantic" explores the global experiences that created the African-American people. Beginning a century before the first documented "20-and-odd" slaves who arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, the episode portrays the earliest Africans, slave and free, who arrived on these shores. The transatlantic slave trade soon became a vast empire connecting three continents. Through stories of individuals caught in its web, the episode traces the emergence of plantation slavery in the American South and examines what the late 18th-century era of revolutions - American, French and Haitian - would mean for African Americans and slavery in America.
- DirectorEmmanuel GrasStarsKabwita KasongoLydie KasongoTrials tribulation dreams and aspirations of a young farmer earning a living making and selling charcoal in Congo.
- DirectorLeon GastStarsMuhammad AliGeorge ForemanDon KingBoxing documentary on the 1974 world heavyweight championship bout between defending champion, George Foreman, and the underdog challenger, Muhammad Ali.
- DirectorDaniel LindsayT.J. MartinStarsBill CourtneyO.C. BrownMontrail 'Money' BrownChronicles three underprivileged students from inner-city Memphis and their volunteer coach who tries to help them beat the odds on and off the field.
- DirectorSusan RaymondStarsSusan RaymondDeanna BurneyClary JanssonFilmmakers Alan Raymond and Susan Raymond document Philadelphia teachers facing challenges at an inner-city school.
- DirectorJean-Xavier de LestradeStarsAnn FinnellPatrick McGuinnessJames WilliamsOscar-winning documentary that documents a murder trial in which a 15-year-old African-American is wrongfully accused of a 2000 murder in Jacksonville, Florida.
- DirectorMorgan NevilleStarsDarlene LoveMerry ClaytonLisa FischerBackup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
- DirectorAva DuVernayStarsMelina AbdullahMichelle AlexanderCory BookerAn in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
- DirectorCle SloanStarsDaryl GatesFred HamptonJoe HicksSurrounded by death and the brutal lifestyle that feeds it, a Los Angeles gangbanger explores the history of Southern California street gangs from the 1950s through the 1990s in an attempt to fully understand his existence. Bastards of the Party humanizes the staggering casualties of the LA gang wars.
- DirectorStephanie BlackStarsBelinda BeckerBuju BantonHorst KöhlerDocumentary look at the effects of globalization on Jamaican industry and agriculture.
- DirectorSusanne RostockStarsHarry BelafonteSidney PoitierMarge ChampionMost people know the lasting legacy of Harry Belafonte, the entertainer. This film unearths his significant contribution to and his leadership in the civil rights movement in America and to social justice globally.
- DirectorEzra EdelmanStarsKareem Abdul-JabbarMike AlbaneseMuhammad AliA chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.
- DirectorLoki MulhollandStarsLuvaughn BrownJoan MulhollandLoki MulhollandWhen the award-winning filmmaker of "An Ordinary Hero", Loki Mulholland, dives into the 400 year history of institutional racism in America he is confronted with the shocking reality that his family helped start it all from the very beginning.
- When a black coach takes control of a high school basketball team in rural Kentucky, heads turn. When he wins, heads roll. UPROXX original documentary Us Against The World examines how Cordia High School became a hotbed for racial tension.
- DirectorKathleen DowdeyStarsJuanita AbernathyBernard LafayetteJohn LewisJohn Lewis: Get in the Way is the first major documentary biography of John Lewis, civil rights hero, congressional leader and champion of human rights whose unwavering fight for justice spans the past 50 years. Following a film festival launch, the documentary had its national PBS premiere as a highlight of Black History Month. Get in the Way takes audiences on the journey of a man who fights for social justice using a radical tool: nonviolent direct action. Born into an era of profound social change, the son of sharecroppers in the Jim Crow South, Lewis made choices early in his life that propelled him to a vital role in U.S. history. He was often at the center of crucial events in the Civil Rights Movement, a leader on the ground and at the front lines of some of the most chilling confrontations. In 1963, he became the youngest speaker at the historic March on Washington. Two years later, he led the Bloody Sunday March in Selma, where Alabama State Troopers attacked peaceful protesters with billy clubs, bullwhips and tear gas. Their horrific actions were broadcast on the nightly news to living rooms across the nation. Eight months later, the Voting Rights Act was signed in to law. Through never-before-seen interviews shot over 20 years, filmmaker Kathleen Dowdey shapes a gripping and intimate tale of personal voice and revelatory moments. Once an activist pushing from the outside, Lewis' career as a congressman has solidified his stature as a strategically agile activist making noise on the inside. Here is a riveting portrait of Lewis' journey of courage, searing disappointments and hard-won triumphs as over the decades he inspires others to stand up and get in the way.
- DirectorBob HerbertStarsBob HerbertA documentary about the extraordinary difficulty African-Americans have faced in their efforts to establish and maintain a middle class standard of living. Nearly 40 percent of all black children are poor. And the black middle class remains proportionally much smaller and far less healthy than the white middle class. With a compelling narrative, dramatic historical footage and a series of deeply personal interviews, Bob Herbert shows why this is still the case a half century after the heyday of the civil rights movement.
- DirectorAmandine GayStarsAiss BergRebecca ChaillonMarie Julie Chalu[Ouvrir La Voix] SPEAK UP/MAKE YOUR WAY focuses on our common identities : "woman" and "black", whilst highlighting the diversity of Afropean diasporas. This documentary explores the intersections of discrimination, art and blackness. SPEAK UP/MAKE YOUR WAY is about black women reclaiming the narrative.
- DirectorNancy BuirskiStarsCynthia ErivoRecy TaylorRobert CorbittMrs. Recy Taylor was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Unbroken, she spoke up and fought for justice with help from Rosa Parks and legions of women.
- DirectorErik LjungStarsDontre HamiltonNate 'Junior' HamiltonMaria HamiltonAfter Dontre Hamilton was shot 14 times and killed by police in Milwaukee, his family embarks on a quest for answers, justice and reform.
- DirectorAndrew JamesStarsJames 'Jack Rabbit' JacksonDeris SolomonLuke WilliamsIn a rapidly changing America where mass inequality and dwindling opportunity have devastated the black working class, three Detroit men must fight to build something lasting for themselves and future generations.
- DirectorAmadeuz ChristStarsUmar JohnsonSabir BeyClaud AndersonOut of Darkness is a full length three-part documentary examining the untold history of African people and the African cultural contribution to the nations of the world.
- DirectorDeborah Riley DraperStarsBlair UnderwoodSada JacobsonSusan D. BachrachIn 1936 when 18 African-American athletes participated in the Berlin Olympic Games, history forgot all except one. This is the story of the other 17.
- DirectorLyn GoldfarbStarsTom BradleyAlfre WoodardBRIDGING THE DIVIDE tells the little known story of Tom Bradley, the first African American mayor elected in a major U.S. city with an overwhelmingly white majority. In 1973, his extraordinary multi-racial coalition redefined Los Angeles, transformed the national dialogue on race, and set the foundation for sustainable interracial coalitions that encouraged elections of minority candidates nationwide, most notably President Barack Obama. The film brings into sharp focus issues of police brutality in minority communities and the challenges of police reform. BRIDGING THE DIVIDE is the story of the pressures which face our cities, the politics of race and the complexities of coalitions in a changing America.
- DirectorPatrick BransonStarsDean AlgerHouston BakerTerence BlanchardAmerica's Blues takes a new angle on the Blues, focusing on, not only the musical impact it has had on all forms of Popular American Music, but also the influence it has had on art, fashion, language, film and racial equality.
- DirectorAlfonso DomingoJordi TorrentStarsSantiago CarrilloPeter CarrollJames FernandezIn 1936, some 2,800 young Americans, together with 50,000 volunteers from 54 countries, offered their lives in defense of the Spanish Republic. What is less known is that 85 African Americans joined that heroic struggle to fight against racism and for the very civil rights denied to them in their own country. This is their story, an untold chapter in the history of both the United States and Spain. The adventures of invisible heroes who answered the call of a distant war to fight for their own freedom.
- DirectorJessica EdwardsStarsMavis StaplesJeff TweedyAdam AyresHer family group, the Staple Singers, inspired millions and helped propel the civil rights movement with their music. After 60 years of performing, legendary singer Mavis Staples' message of love and equality is needed now more than ever.
- DirectorGöran Hugo OlssonStarsLauryn HillKati OutinenGayatri Chakravorty SpivakThe most daring moments in the struggle for liberation from colonial rule.
- DirectorLamin Daniel JadamaLars LovénGöran Hugo OlssonStarsNneka EgbunaSister FaNeo MuyangaIn the Manding language Fonko means "the thing", in Wolof "to take care of each other". The great musical revolution of today takes place in Africa, where urban club music is merging with traditional styles. New technology and swift communications has released super talents of the continent, spreading music, arts and ideas to the rest of the world. In Fonko we meet some of the most outspoken, creative and interesting artists of today that redefines the image of Africa, traveling from Dakar in the west through Accra, Lagos and Luanda to Johannesburg in the south. Throughout the movie we also hear the voice of Fela Kuti, one of the continent's greatest musical icons and political activists. Fela speaks through early recorded interviews.
- DirectorCarl DealTia LessinStarsMichael BrownGeorge W. BushJulie Chen MoonvesA redemptive tale of an aspiring rap artist surviving failed levees and her own troubled past and seizing a chance for a new beginning.
- StarsCoby BattyFrom The Creators Of The Best-Selling Documentary Series "Up From Slavery"... A 7-Part Compelling Journey Through America's Greatest Saga. In 1860, the nation founded upon an idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness had as many as four hundred thousand slave-owners and almost four million slaves. By denying these rights to more than twelve percent of its population, America would soon pay with the blood of a generation. The story of African Slavery in America started with the first permanent English Colony in the 17th century... and ended with the Civil War. But those two hundred and fifty years of struggle were just the beginning. The beginning of a journey down the long Emancipation Road...
- DirectorMickey Madoda DubeThe story of how the world came to focus on a single cause - ending the Apartheid regime in South Africa - and the role played in this by two star-studded global television broadcasts made in the name of Nelson Mandela in 1988 and 1990.
- DirectorDawn Gifford EngleStarsNelson MandelaDesmond TutuNaomi TutuA documentary on the life story of Desmond Tutu and his journey during the crucial years of anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
- DirectorStanley NelsonStarsKarin Kunstler GoldmanJulian BondPeggy Jean ConnorA look back at the summer of 1964, when more than 700 student activists took segregated Mississippi by storm, registering voters, creating freedom schools and establishing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
- 20171h 25mNot Rated6.9 (133)DirectorStanley NelsonMarco WilliamsStarsTugart BrownTell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities examines the impact black colleges and universities have had on American history, culture, and national identity.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsMaxine McNairWalter CronkiteChris McNairA documentary of the notorious racial terrorist bombing of an African American church during the Civil Rights Movement.
- DirectorMichael FischerStarsFadiah AbbasLoukman AdamsSybil AgulasHow do township residents in slums cope with crime, unemployment and poverty in a country still very much struggling with racism, underdevelopment and inequality?
- 2006–20075 epsTV-MA8.5 (4.8K)TV Mini Series89MetascoreStarsDarleen AsevedoJay AsevedoShelton Shakespear AlexanderAn examination of the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsBob MarleyZiggy MarleyRita MarleyA documentary on the life, music, and legacy of Bob Marley.
- DirectorMel StuartStarsThe DramaticsThe Staple SingersKim WestonDocumentary covering a Stax Records-sponsored all-day concert at the 1972 Watts Summer Festival with performances by Stax Records artists such as Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, The Staples Singers, and more.
- DirectorJamie KastnerStarsIshmael Muslim AliPeter BentDaniela BizAfter five citizens of the Virgin Islands are convicted in the 1970s of a massacre at one of the island's fancy country clubs, their ostensible leader stages a skyjacking and escapes to Cuba.
- DirectorStan LathanStarsCannonball AdderleyJerry ButlerSammy Davis Jr.Documentary about a concert held in Chicago in 1972.
- DirectorPeter SpirerStarsVing Rhames50 CentKevin AndersonA documentary on the evolution of MC battles from verbal one-upmanship to street warfare.
- DirectorJeremy EarpStarsDave ZirinThis critique of U.S. sports culture shows how 20th-century sports has consistently reflected the hegemonic political discourse of the day, specifically, elite narratives about nationalism, war, gender, race, homosexuality and capitalism.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsMichael JacksonJackson 5Berry GordyA look at the life of the late pop star Michael Jackson from his early days at Motown Records to the release of his hit 1979 album, Off the Wall.
- DirectorPratibha ParmarStarsRobert L. AllenTony BrownAngela DavisThis film tells the compelling story of an extraordinary woman's journey from her birth in a paper thin shack in the cotton fields of Georgia to her recognition as a key writer of the twentieth Century.Walker made history as the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for her groundbreaking novel, The Color Purple. A universal story of triumph against all odds not that different from Walker's own. Born, the eight child of sharecroppers, her early life unfolded in the midst of violent racism and poverty during some of the most turbulent years of social/political changes in the U.S. The film offers a penetrating look at the life and art of an artist, a self confessed renegade and human rights activist.
- DirectorEd BellThomas LennonStarsWhoopi GoldbergAngela BassettMichael BoatmanWhen the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.
- DirectorIsraelStarsAfrika BambaataaYasiin BeyCrazy LegsFrom the Boogie Down Bronx and beyond, the history of the B-Boy.
- DirectorGeorge C. StoneyStarsMary ColeyConceived as an educational film for rural midwives, the film presents a beautifully humane profile of the life and work of the midwife "Miss Mary" Coley.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsFela KutiYeni KutiFemi KutiA look at the life and music of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsJames BrownChristian McBrideBobby ByrdA look at the music career of musician James Brown beginning with his first hit song, "Please, Please, Please," in 1956.
- DirectorKeith BeauchampStarsMamie Till MobleyWheeler ParkerSimeon WrightNever-before-seen testimony is included in this documentary on Emmett Louis Till, who, in 1955, was brutally murdered after he whistled at a white woman.
- DirectorAndrew KrakowerA lost generation of Ugandan youth is the result of a 24 year long civil war, where a vicious rebel army leads a massive and coldly systematic child abduction machine.
- StarsDon CorneliusDiana PuskasQueen TurnerCreated by music impresario Don Cornelius, Soul Train is an African-American focused music-dance television program that aired 35 years, primarily featuring performances by R&B, soul, funk, pop, and hip hop artists.
- DirectorBrent E. HuffmanMost prison documentaries focus on the inmates. This sobering program features guards and prisoners alike, giving the viewer two interpretations of life at Ohio's Warren Correctional Institution. From the smallest detail-how cellmates rig a shabby partition around their toilet-to the cynicism and frontline sociology with which the corrections officers analyze their surroundings, the video clearly elucidates the effects of prolonged monotony and confinement on the human spirit. As one officer puts it, "Eight hours a day, I'm locked up here too."
- DirectorRichard LoweMartin TorgoffStarsMichelle AlexanderB-RealMary BarrA look at the rise of crack cocaine in urban America in the 1980s and it's influence on popular culture, especially in hip-hop music.
- StarsAngela BassettJeremy RabbThe history of African Americans.
- StarsRichard RoundtreeHugh MorganNicole WilliamsThe history of legal official racial segregation in the USA.
- StarsDavid McCulloughSam WaterstonJulie HarrisA comprehensive survey of the American Civil War.
- DirectorHeather MacDonaldStarsMarion ColesElaine EllisCleo HayesFive sassy, tap dancing women aged 84 - 96. Meet the "Silver Belles".
- DirectorStuart A. GoldmanStarsAlberta HunterBarney JosephsonJohn HammondThis music biography portrays the life of the legendary blues singer and songwriter Alberta Hunter. After 40 years of show business success beginning in the 1920's, Alberta became a nurse. Twenty years later, when the hospital thought she was 70, she was forced to retire. Still anxious to do something with her life, she returned to singing, to enjoy an acclaimed comeback. Her age was really 82! MY CASTLE'S ROCKIN' traces Alberta's remarkable career through the 20th Century, incorporating her best live performances from New York's famous downtown night spot, The Cookery. Ms. Hunter opened her personal archives to the producer for this documentary, sharing never before seen photos and other momentos from her celebrated career. The film features Alberta Hunter's final interview before her death in 1984; plus interviews with her manager, nightclub entrepreneur Barney Josephson; her record producer, the legendary John Hammond, and others.
- StarsKeith DavidWynton MarsalisGary GiddinsA survey of the musical form's history and major talents.
- DirectorMacky AlstonStarsMacky AlstonWilliam BadgettA gay man seeks to discover what kinship, if any, exists between his white family and the nearby blacks who share the name of Alston.
- DirectorMarlon RiggsStarsBarbara T. ChristianGeorge FredericksonLarry C. LevineThis documentary traces the deep-rooted stereotypes which have fueled anti-black prejudice.
- DirectorMarlon RiggsStarsSteven BochcoDiahann CarrollRuby DeeAnalyzes the evolution of television's earlier, unflattering portrayal of blacks from 1948 until 1988, when they are depicted as prosperous and as having achieved the American dream, a portrayal that is inconsistent with reality.
- DirectorMarlon RiggsStarsMarlon RiggsMichael BellKerrigan BlackA documentary about the experiences of black homosexual men living in the United States of America.
- DirectorJennie LivingstonStarsBrooke XtravaganzaAndré ChristianDorian CoreyA chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.
- DirectorWolfgang BuschStarsTracy AfricaKevin AvianceJaimee BalenciagaThe Icons from the "Harlem Drag Balls" are influencing the biggest stars in pop culture for decades and they are telling their untold stories of their time. The creative lifestyle, fierceness and fabulousness, is the ultimate challenge in fashion, on the runway and dance floor for recognition and fame. Wolfgang Busch is capturing the creative way society's disenfranchised express themselves through movement and creativity.
- DirectorSteve BinderStarsDiana RossOn July 21;1983;the legendary Diana Ross took the stage in New York's Central Park before an audience of over 800,000. Soon after the entertainer began;pouring rain and heavy wind threatened to put an end to the show;but Diana pushed on for much of the set;urging the drenched crowd to remain calm and stay with her. Eventually the torrential storm put an end to the performance;but not before Diana promised her fans she would return the next day. True to her word;Diana performed the entire concert again on July 22nd for the people of New York.
- DirectorWilliam GreavesStarsTroy DusterAl Freeman Jr.Paula GiddingsThe work of a notable civil rights crusader in the late 19th and early 20th century.
- DirectorFrederick WisemanWELFARE shows the nature and complexity of the welfare system in sequences illustrating the staggering diversity of problems that constitute welfare: housing, unemployment, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly. These issues are presented in a context where welfare workers as well as clients struggle to cope with and interpret the laws and regulations that govern their work and life.
- DirectorJerry RothwellTown of Runners is a feature documentary about young runners from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, home to the current Olympic and World Champions Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele. The film follows three children as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood.
- DirectorJarreth J. MerzKevin MerzAn African Election is a political documentary that exposes the never-before-seen, nitty-gritty of political electioneering in Africa. It captures the intrigues of political campaigns; the almost carnival like atmosphere that is laced with fear of the unknown and the danger that lurks behind-the-scenes.
- DirectorGeorge T. NierenbergStarsWillie Mae Ford SmithThomas A. DorseySallie MartinDocumentary about the American gospel music scene, focusing on two of the movement's pioneering forces, Thomas A. Dorsey and Willie May Ford Smith.