Black Film Archive
Black Film Archive is a living register of Black films. In its current iteration, it showcases Black films made from 1915 to 1979 currently streaming.
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173 titles
- DirectorJack HillStarsPam GrierBooker BradshawRobert DoQuiA sexy Black nurse takes vigilante justice against inner-city drug dealers after her sister becomes their latest victim.
- DirectorVincente MinnelliBusby BerkeleyStarsEthel WatersEddie 'Rochester' AndersonLena HorneA compulsive gambler dies during a shooting, but he'll receive a second chance to reform himself and to make up with his worried wife.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsDiana RossMichael JacksonNipsey RussellAn adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz" that tries to capture the essence of the African-American experience.
- DirectorGordon Parks Jr.StarsRon O'NealCarl LeeSheila FrazierThe daily routine of cocaine dealer Priest who wants to score one more super deal and retire.
- DirectorRobert ClouseStarsJim KellyGloria HendryScatman CrothersA Mafia buy out of Papa Byrd's karate school downtown ends in his death. Byrd's daughter, Sydney, refuses to sell, and wants revenge. Byrd's students call the Black Belt Jones for help. Jones reluctantly teams with Sydney in many battles.
- DirectorCliff RoquemoreStarsRudy Ray MooreJimmy LynchLeroy DanielsAfter being murdered by his rivals, Petey Wheatstraw is resurrected, in exchange for marrying the devil's daughter, the world's ugliest woman.
- DirectorGordon ParksStarsRichard RoundtreeMoses GunnCharles CioffiA crime lord hires black private eye, John Shaft, to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
- DirectorJoe FrancisStarsJosephine BakerAndré LuguetHélène HallierGabrielle (Helene Hallier), an ambitious but innocent would-be young chorine, trumps a music hall publicity stunt to become the new Parisian nightclub Cinderella. But this lighter-than-champagne-bubbles story is only a pretext for LA REVUE DES REVUES's white-hot, non-stop procession of outrageously and scantily attired exotic dancers, showgirls, and acrobats including the Tiller¹s Follies Girls, Ruth Zackey and the Hoffmann Girls, and danseuse russe Lila Nikolska. But it's Josephine Baker, "the high priestess of primitivism" (J. Hoberman Village Voice), who triumphs in two show stopping numbers in which "her clownish backfield-in-motion Charleston shimmy is unlike anything else in the movie and perhaps unlike anything anyone ever did."
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorPaul HamptonA Federal Agent, whose daughter dies of a heroin overdose, is determined to destroy the drug ring that supplied her. He recruits various people whose lives have been torn apart by the drug trade and trains them. Then they all leave for France to track down and destroy the ring.
- 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.
- DirectorJohn KortyStarsCicely TysonEric BrownRichard DysartStory of a black woman in the South who was born into slavery in the 1850s and lives to become a part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsFred WilliamsonD'Urville MartinWilliam SmithTwo black bounty hunters, pursuing an outlaw, take over a small Western town without a sheriff.
- DirectorTom GriesMonte HellmanStarsMuhammad AliErnest BorgnineJohn MarleyMuhammad Ali plays himself in a reconstruction of the events that brought him to fame.
- DirectorCirio H. SantiagoStarsJeannie BellStan ShawPat AndersonA young karate expert searches for her brother's killer in Hong Kong.
- DirectorLes BlankMaureen GoslingStarsAlphonse ArdoinGustave ArdoinMorris ArdoinA portrait of black Creole life in the Louisiana Delta, accompanied by the hot sounds of Zydeco music.
- DirectorMichael SchultzStarsGlynn TurmanLawrence Hilton-JacobsGarrett MorrisIn 1964 on Chicago's Near-North Side, the lives of four carefree high school seniors and best friends, including an aspiring playwright and an all-city basketball champion, takes a tragic turn.
- 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.
- DirectorJulie DashStarsBarbara OMarnita CarrawayFred CarrawayA nun reflects on her thoughts and feeling about her life.
- DirectorPaul BogartGordon DouglasStarsJames GarnerLouis Gossett Jr.Susan ClarkIn 1857, con man Quincy Drew and his black friend Jason O'Rourke swindle slave owners into buying Jason, who's a free man, and later share the profits when Jason escapes captivity.
- DirectorAntonello BrancaStarsNorman Jacob
- DirectorTerence DixonStarsJames BaldwinA meeting with James Baldwin doesn't quite go according to plan for a group of presumptuous white filmmakers in this Paris-set documentary short.
- DirectorTed BafaloukosStarsLeroy 'Horsemouth' WallaceRichard 'Dirty Harry' HallMonica CraigHorsemouth sets himself up in business selling records but when gangsters steal his bike things start to turn nasty. As tensions build, Horsemouth and friends plot to end the gangsters reign of terror and restore justice to the people of Kingston.
- DirectorHaile GerimaStarsMel RosierIn the midst of the Black consciousness movement, a basketball player imagines his profession to that of a gladiator. After a series of reflections including his upbringing as a foster child of White Americans, he returns to his origins.
- DirectorJack StarrettStarsTamara DobsonBernie CaseyBrenda SykesDuring the 1970s, U.S. Special Agent Cleopatra Jones proves to be an invaluable asset to the local police forces in the war on drugs.
- DirectorJulie DashStarsLinda Martina YoungAn experimental choreographed poem,made within the LA Rebellion movement of film students at UCLA.
- DirectorLionel RogosinStarsJim CollierGary DavisLarry JohnsonRogosin took the fight for equality to his homeland with his astonishing and powerful fourth feature Black Roots. The film, which is ripe for rediscovery, featured an extraordinary cast, including Reverend Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick; attorney and feminist activist Florynce ""Flo"" Kennedy; and musicians Jim Collier, Wende Smith, Larry Johnson and Reverend Gary Davis. All tell stories of heartbreak and despair while their songs blow the roof off the rafters. In an extension of the famed shebeen scenes in Come Back, Africa, the participants in Black Roots spoke openly about politics and race in a way that is still rarely seen on screen. In 1970, it was a radical and daring move by a great director. A deeply humanist film, Black Roots combines tales of oppression with hauntingly beautiful images of the faces of black men, women and children.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsBill BrentHuey P. NewtonStokely CarmichaelA short film of interviews and protests at a rally to free Huey P. Newton.
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsSidney PoitierClaudia McNeilRuby DeeA substantial insurance payment could mean either financial salvation or personal ruin for a poor black family.
- DirectorJeff KanewStarsMuhammad AliArchie WycoffClarence GonzalezDocumentary about a rodeo that takes place, for the most part, in Harlem, New York City.
- DirectorHenri ÉtiévantMario NalpasStarsGeorges MelchiorRégina DalthyPierre BatcheffMarquis Sévéro, a rich, lazy Parisian, wants to divorce his wife so that he can marry his own goddaughter Denise. But Denise herself loves André Berval, an engineer employed by the marquis. Filled with jealousy, the marquis sends André to the Antilles, to prospect some land he has just acquired. He promises André that he can marry Denise if he is successful in the tropics, but he then writes to Alvarez, his manager at the site, asking him to prevent André from ever returning to France. The brutal Alvarez forms an instant hatred for André when the engineer breaks up Alvarez's attempt to rape Papitou, a beautiful native girl. Papitou becomes devoted to André, and protects him against Alvarez's schemes. But she faces a crisis herself when she learns that André plans to marry Denise.
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsMamadou M'BowAmadi DiengFatim DiagneA young unemployed man fends off accusations of laziness and makes a home for his pregnant girlfriend who has been rejected by her family.
- DirectorGordon ParksStarsRichard RoundtreeMoses GunnDrew Bundini BrownShaft is back to find the murderer of an old friend on the cold hard city streets with a little help from his new friends.
- DirectorRobert Ellis MillerStarsCicely TysonRobert HooksBeah RichardsA black family from Detroit takes a two-week vacation in the South. The trip changes their lives.
- DirectorHerbert DanskaStarsDon MurrayDick GregoryDiane VarsiA loose fictitious of Charlie Parker's last years and a portrait of the jazz scene in 1960's New York.
- DirectorHorace OvéStarsHerbert NorvilleOscar JamesFrank SinguineauA British-born younger son of an immigrant family from Trinidad finds himself adrift between two cultures.
- DirectorGjon MiliStarsLester YoungGeorge 'Red' CallenderHarry EdisonCreated under the guidance of jazz impresario and Verve Records founder Norman Granz, this short captures the spontaneity of a jam session and is one of few film records of black jazzers of the day including tenor sax legend Lester Young.
- DirectorOscar WilliamsStarsGodfrey CambridgeClarice TaylorLeonard JacksonIn 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.
- DirectorRalph NelsonStarsJim BrownGeorge KennedyFredric MarchRacial tensions threaten to explode when a black man is elected Sheriff of a small, racially divided town in the deep south.
- DirectorBill BrameStarsFrank DeKovaPaul HarrisFrances E. WilliamsA numbers king pin tries to stay in business as the mafia and police close in around him.
- DirectorJohn BerryStarsDiahann CarrollJames Earl JonesLawrence Hilton-JacobsIn the 1970s Harlem, garbage collector Roop feels intimidated by the idea of dating Claudine who is a single mother of six on welfare.
- DirectorOssie DavisStarsBrock PetersClaudia McNeilLeslie UggamsAn aspiring dancer and her wicked sisters resent their mother's love for a foster daughter.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsSidney PoitierMartin LandauBarbara McNairIn San Francisco, a high-priced call girl is murdered and the case is assigned to Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs.
- DirectorFronza WoodsStarsFronza Woods
- DirectorStewart BirdPeter GessnerRené LichtmanReveals the activities of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers inside and outside the auto factories of Detroit. Provides a powerful look at the struggle for labor rights and civil rights during a pivotal period in American history.
- DirectorDonald BrittainWilliam CanningStarsDonald BrittainJack BrickhouseErnie BanksA look into the Chicago Cubs National League baseball team during the 1972-1973 seasons.
- DirectorWilliam A. LeveyStarsJohn HartIvory StoneJoe De SueEddie is a Vietnam war veteran who loses both his arms and his legs when he steps on a land mine. A brilliant surgeon is able to attach new limbs, but his assistant switches the DNA injections, transforming him into a huge hulking monster.
- 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.
- DirectorBill GunnStarsDuane JonesMarlene ClarkBill GunnAfter being stabbed with an ancient, germ-infested knife, a doctor's assistant finds himself with an insatiable desire for blood.
- DirectorPerry HenzellStarsJimmy CliffJanet BartleyCarl BradshawWishing to become a successful reggae singer, a young Jamaican man finds himself tied to corrupt record producers and drug pushers.
- DirectorTimothy GalfasStarsRichard LawsonAnnazette ChasePhilip Michael ThomasTo make money, a Los Angeles street-fighter goes to work for gangsters.
- DirectorJack HillStarsPam GrierAntonio FargasPeter BrownA voluptuous vigilante takes a job as a high-class prostitute to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
- DirectorGordon ParksStarsRoger E. MosleyPaul BenjaminMadge SinclairBiography of the legendary folksinger, Huddie Ledbetter, master of the 12-string guitar and long-time convict on Texas and Louisiana chain gangs.
- DirectorTso Nam LeeStarsJim KellySing ChenTao-Liang TanAn American insurance investigator goes to Hong Kong to retrieve a famous diamond stolen by a local criminal organization.
- DirectorValerio ZurliniStarsWoody StrodeFranco CittiJean ServaisRebel Maurice Lalubi is arrested by the military on trumped up charges and tortured, which turns him into a martyr. Inspired by the final days of the first democratic Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
- DirectorGeorge McCowanStarsStephen BoydRobert HooksSusan OliverA racist officer is put in charge of a squad of black troops charged with taking an important bridge from the Germans.
- DirectorArthur H. LeonardStarsTim MooreElwood SmithDuke WilliamsA couple of theatrical producers try to get backing for their musical show.
- DirectorLeonard AndersonSpencer WilliamsStarsDizzy GillespieFreddie CarterSahjiA musical film in the style of a documentary, featuring 19 musical and dance numbers, by many notable musicians.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsLee J. CobbAnthony ZerbeRoscoe Lee BrowneA successful African American businessman has a quarrel with a white policeman, suspecting that he is having an affair with his wife. The policeman's colleagues are seeking to avoid publicity.
- CreatorGeorge KirgoPeter NelsonStarsTeresa GravesDennis RuckerCharles CioffiAdventures of sexy & sassy black undercover cop Christie Love.
- DirectorJames ClavellStarsSidney PoitierJudy GeesonChristian RobertsIdealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.
- DirectorRobert KlaneStarsDonna SummerValerie LandsburgTerri NunnA Friday in the life of the disco club The Zoo, where the staff and clients meet and dance their lives away.
- DirectorJ. Robert WagonerStarsRudy Ray MooreCarol SpeedJimmy LynchRudy Ray Moore's fourth in a series of cult favorites finds him playing an ex-cop called back into action to stop an angel dust producer. The angel dust hallucinations alone are well worth the price of admission!
- DirectorOscar MicheauxStarsCarman NewsomeEthel MosesAlec LovejoyA black Harvard graduate confronts racism.
- DirectorOssie DavisStarsGodfrey CambridgeRaymond St. JacquesCalvin LockhartTwo Harlem cops investigate a robbery, believing that a reverend has staged it in order to steal the money he's collected for a local fundraiser.
- DirectorJohn HubleyStarsDizzy GillespieDon KeeferRalph HertzJazz legend Dizzy Gillespie is hired to record the soundtrack for a television commercial-but the music has a mind of its own in this irreverent blend of live-action and animation.
- DirectorGeorge T. NierenbergStarsHoward 'Sandman' SimsLionel HamptonChuck GreenThis documentary centers around a performance by tap dancers Bunny Briggs, Howard "Sandman" Sims and Chuck Green at a Harlem club backed by a band led by Lionel Hampton. The dancers discuss their careers and their influences.
- DirectorSaul J. TurellStarsSidney PoitierPaul RobesonMargaret WebsterThe life of actor and activist Paul Robeson.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsPaul RobesonLeslie BanksNina Mae McKinneyA British District Officer in Nigeria in the 1930s rules his area strictly but justly. He struggles with gun-runners and slavers with the aid of a loyal native chief.
- DirectorBarry ShearStarsAnthony QuinnYaphet KottoAnthony FranciosaTwo New York City cops go after amateur crooks who are trying to rip off the Mafia and start a gang war.
- DirectorGordon ParksStarsKyle JohnsonAlex ClarkeEstelle EvansA bittersweet, idyllic story about a year in the life of 14-year-old Newt Winger, born into a poor Black family in Kansas, who learns about love, fear, racial injustice, and immorality.
- DirectorCesar GallardoStarsJames IglehartShirley WashingtonChiquitoThe Jefferson's honeymoon night in Hong Kong will be troubled by a number of people wishing to get hold of a Buddha statuette that the husband offered her when window-shopping that day. When the going gets rough, it helps that Cal Jefferson is a top American boxer.
- DirectorArthur MarksStarsYaphet KottoKirk CallowayThomas CarterA new highway threatens a Chicago neighborhood, so to protest the residents throw a block party.
- DirectorJosh BinneyStarsMoms MableyDusty FletcherMarcellus WilsonTenants of a Harlem boarding house put on a show to save their home.
- DirectorBernard B. RayStarsClarence MuseSybil LewisWilliam WashingtonAfter noted violinist Arthur Williams suffers a hand injury which ends his playing career, his hopes are transferred to his son, who prefers swing music to classical.
- DirectorJack KempStarsHilda OffleySheila GuyseKenneth FreemanA crooked real estate tycoon tricks a trusting young woman out of her small candy store. When he is found dead, the girl is suspected of the crime.
- DirectorJ. Elder WillsStarsPaul RobesonElisabeth WelchEsme PercyA black British dockworker named Johnny Zinga becomes a famous singer and learns that he is the rightful king of the African island of Casanga.
- DirectorHarry L. FraserStarsJoe LouisClarence MuseEdna Mae HarrisThe story of the rise of boxer Joe Thomas, which paralleled the life of Joe Louis.
- DirectorOscar MicheauxStarsCora GreenLarry SeymourHazel DiazTed Gregory is trying to be the first black producer to mount a show on Broadway, but he has trouble with his star singer.
- DirectorWilliam L. NolteRalph CooperStarsRalph CooperLena HorneLaurence CrinerA theatrical producer puts aside his own success to boost the career of a talented singer.
- DirectorAlfred E. GreenStarsJackie RobinsonRuby DeeMinor WatsonBiography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Traces his career in the negro leagues and the major leagues. Restored in original Black and White.
- DirectorKrishna ShahStarsCicely TysonJames Earl JonesLouis Gossett Jr.An intimate look at life in the ghetto: Johnny Williams is a house painter who moonlights as a poet, struggling to financially and emotionally support his cancer-ridden wife Mattie. But times are tough and the poverty-troubled streets are even tougher, and it takes every ounce of Johnny's love and courage for the couple to make it through their strife, finding redemption in the River Niger.
- DirectorJán KadárStarsZero MostelHarry BelafonteIda KaminskaMorris Mishkin is an elderly Jewish tailor plagued by hard times who prays to God for help and receives it in the person of a most unusual angel named Levine, a young, black, Jewish hustler from somewhere between Harlem and Heaven.
- DirectorGerald MayerStarsDorothy DandridgePhilip HepburnHarry BelafonteBased on the story, See How They Run (The Ladies' Home Journal June 51), and subsequently won that year's Christopher award. The story was written by Mary Elizabeth Vroman, a 4th generation schoolteacher from the British West Indies. Jane Richards, a young 4th grade teacher in the South, faces a challenge in the form of 11 year-old C.T. Young, a backward boy, whose pride has made him a stubborn rebel and liar. Jane believes in him, then discovers his interest in nature when he spends his time watching a caterpillar in a tree trunk as it develops a cocoon. C. T.'s devoted to his family and especially to Tanya, who adores him. When Tanya dies, despite Dr. Mitchell's efforts to save her, the embittered C.T. stays away from school; when he returns, he gets into a fight and gets sent to Coventry. But when a swarm of bees invades the classroom and panics the students, C.T. takes charge, captures the queen bee, and leads the swarm outside, earning the school principal's praise. But C.T. has urgent business: the cocoon's splitting and a butterfly's ready to emerge. He had meant it for Tanya, but he now presents it to Jane, who calls the other children to watch the unfolding miracle of nature.
- DirectorRichard C. KahnStarsHerb JeffriesMarguerite WhittenClarence BrooksA cowboy is wrongfully accused of murder. He winds up in Harlem, where he assumes the identity of a preacher-turned-gangster who looks like him. He infiltrates the gang to catch the men who framed him.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsHarry BelafonteDorothy DandridgePearl BaileyContemporary version of the Bizet opera, with new lyrics and an African-American cast.
- DirectorSpencer WilliamsStarsSpencer WilliamsJuly JonesInez NewellTwo insolvent con men get involved in a small town beauty contest.
- DirectorHarry L. FraserRalph CooperStarsRalph CooperCleo HerndonClarence BrooksA low-level gangster determines to let nothing stand in the way of his gaining control of the numbers rackets in Harlem.
- DirectorPhil BrownWill JasonStarsHarlem GlobetrottersThomas GomezDorothy DandridgeAbe Saperstein, owner/manager of the world-famous "Harlem Globetrotters", an all-Negro professional basketball team, signs Billy Townsend, an All-American, to play with the "Globetrotters." Saperstein wants Billy to finish school first and get his degree but, despite the good advice, Billy quits college and joins the team. He becomes the team star, gets married after sneaking out of a hotel contrary to Saperstein's instructions, and is injured when returning to the hotel. As a result, the team loses an important game, and Billy is fired. He signs a big-money contract to play with another team in the following season, but after a heart-to-heart talk with his wife about caring for others instead of just himself, he asks his old team to take him back. By rejoining the "Globetrotters," he invalidated the big money contract.
- DirectorSpencer WilliamsStarsElroy EasleyJohn HemmingsEdwin T. HenryOrphaned brothers grow up to become a police officer and a lawyer, and work to rid their city of a bootlegging gang.
- DirectorArthur HoerlStarsLaura BowmanAugustus SmithMorris McKennyIn a small Southern town, Baptist preacher Amos Berry and a local voodoo priestess, Auntie Hagar, get together to thwart the aims of a pimp who has come to town to recruit a beautiful young girl, Myrtle Simpson. In addition, Auntie Hagar's grandson is aiming to marry the young girl, which Auntie Hagar is also determined to stop.
- DirectorRoy MackStarsEthel WatersSammy Davis Jr.Hamtree HarringtonRufus Jones, a black child, is elected President of the United States in this short musical comedy. The film features song and dance numbers by a seven year old Sammy Davis Jr..
- DirectorBud PollardStarsA.B. DeComathiereVivianne BaberKnolly MitchellAn unscrupulous minister starts a 'back to Africa' movement.
- DirectorEdward BlandStarsGeorge WallerDorothea HortonMelinda DillonDiscussion of jazz and the role of African-Americans in the United States.
- DirectorEdmond T. GrévilleStarsJosephine BakerAlbert PréjeanRobert ArnouxA French novelist passes off a African shepherdess as a princess.
- DirectorArthur DreifussStarsMonte HawleyJeni Le GonEdward ThompsonTommy McCoy and "Dude" Markey are both in love with Harlem singer/dancer Nita. Markey robs a jewelry store and turns the loot over to gang-boss Murray Howard. Later, Markey robs the safe, steals the jewelry, and, in order to get rid of his rival for Nita, frames the robbery on McCoy. The latter's big-brother thinks otherwise and, with Nita's help, sets out to prove it.
- DirectorOscar MicheauxStarsBee FreemanSol Johnson'Slick' ChesterA young college student falls under the influence of a murderous gambler.
- DirectorSidney MeyersStarsGary MerrillDonald ThompsonClarence CooperA documentary account of the rehabilitation at the Wiltwyck School of an emotionally disturbed Black boy who is unwanted, misunderstood, and inwardly tortured.
- DirectorJosh BinneyStarsDusty FletcherGeorge WiltshireButterfly McQueenAn all-Black comedy and dance revue with stars of stage and screen.
- DirectorArnold LavenStarsEartha KittFrederick O'NealHenry ScottA young woman struggling with a sordid past finds that her biggest enemy had larger demons than she did.
- DirectorArvid E. GillstromStarsEdward ThompsonEvelyn PreerSpencer WilliamsA nightclub owner's wife, jealous of his attentions to his star singer, schemes to get her fired.