African American Movies

  • 1996
    Maceo Parker: My First Name Is Maceo

    Maceo Parker: My First Name Is Maceo

    Maceo Parker: My First Name Is Maceo

    01996HD

    Documentary about the life of jazz and funk saxophonist, Maceo Parker

    Maceo Parker: My First Name Is Maceo
  • 1973
    Medea

    Medea

    Medea

    01973HD

    Ben Caldwell’s Medea, a collage piece made on an animation stand and edited entirely in the camera, combines live action and rapidly edited...

    Medea
  • 2009
    Coming Back for More

    Coming Back for More

    Coming Back for More

    02009HD

    Funk legend Sly Stone disappeared from the limelight for more than 20 years. Musicians and the media tried to find the recluse but failed. In 2005...

    Coming Back for More
  • 1969
    Operation Breadbasket

    Operation Breadbasket

    Operation Breadbasket

    01969HD

    Actor Robert Culp narrates this special examining the use of boycotts by African-Americans as a way of obtaining jobs.

    Operation Breadbasket
  • 1952
    Men Of The Forest

    Men Of The Forest

    Men Of The Forest

    01952HD

    An African-American family in Georgia works to save money for a power saw. Includes depictions of timber harvest techniques and process. Film made in...

    Men Of The Forest
  • 1998
    Thug Life in D.C.

    Thug Life in D.C.

    Thug Life in D.C.

    01998HD

    Aundrey Burno, a black youth looking down the wrong end of a murder charge -- for which a conviction could result in a lifetime in prison -- appears...

    Thug Life in D.C.
  • 1938
    Hits and Bits of 1938

    Hits and Bits of 1938

    Hits and Bits of 1938

    01938HD

    This musical comedy with an all-black cast imagines what television entertainment will be like in the near future.

    Hits and Bits of 1938
  • 2010
    Shoegazer

    Shoegazer

    Shoegazer

    02010HD

    What happens when a bartender on a mission to find her cheating boyfriend gets stuck driving a drunk high-schooler home? Trans Am, emergency room,...

    Shoegazer
  • 1928
    Absent

    Absent

    Absent

    01928HD

    A shell-shocked black soldier is cared for by a miner and his daughter when he wanders into their camp, and makes a fresh start in life with the aid...

    Absent
  • 1970
    Everything Is Fine

    Everything Is Fine

    Everything Is Fine

    01970HD

    Evanston, a suburb just north of Chicago, touts its progressivism and inclusion. It was the first city in the U.S. to offer reparations for Black...

    Everything Is Fine
  • 1978
    Everybody Needs a Forever Home

    Everybody Needs a Forever Home

    Everybody Needs a Forever Home

    01978HD

    Four African American families relate their experiences with adoption.

    Everybody Needs a Forever Home
  • 1991
    Wylie Avenue Days

    Wylie Avenue Days

    Wylie Avenue Days

    01991HD

    The Pittsburgh History Series is an ongoing series of hour-long documentaries that highlight various parts of our city's history. Since 1988, these...

    Wylie Avenue Days
  • 1970
    Haunted Holiday

    Haunted Holiday

    Haunted Holiday

    01970HD

    Eight high school students enter into an abandon movie studio to have some Halloween fun, little do they know that a wanted killer is hiding inside,...

    Haunted Holiday
  • 1976
    The Black Indians of New Orleans

    The Black Indians of New Orleans

    The Black Indians of New Orleans

    01976HD

    “This classic award-winning documentary is the first definitive treatment of the origins and rituals of the Black Mardi Gras Indians of New...

    The Black Indians of New Orleans
  • 1973
    Queen Mother Moore Speech at Greenhaven Prison

    Queen Mother Moore Speech at Greenhaven Prison

    Queen Mother Moore Speech at Greenhaven Prison

    01973HD

    Two years after the riots and deaths at Attica, New York, a community day was organized at Greenhaven, a federal prison in Connecticut. The event was...

    Queen Mother Moore Speech at Greenhaven Prison
  • 1971
    Attica Interviews

    Attica Interviews

    Attica Interviews

    01971HD

    Portable Channel, a community documentary group in Rochester, New York, was one of the first small format video centers to have an ongoing...

    Attica Interviews
  • 1908
    Nellie, the Beautiful Housemaid

    Nellie, the Beautiful Housemaid

    Nellie, the Beautiful Housemaid

    01908HD

    Comedy short (only fragments remain at LoC)

    Nellie, the Beautiful Housemaid
  • 1975
    Being Me

    Being Me

    Being Me

    01975HD

    A 1975 documentary short about how children perceive themselves in terms of their surroundings, family, and ethnicity.

    Being Me
  • 1970
    Notes from a Young Black Chef

    Notes from a Young Black Chef

    Notes from a Young Black Chef

    01970HD

    Based on Kwame Onwuachi's memoir which tells his unprecedented journey from childhood in the Bronx with a mostly single mother to opening a...

    Notes from a Young Black Chef
  • 1990
    Follow the Drinking Gourd

    Follow the Drinking Gourd

    Follow the Drinking Gourd

    01990HD

    Based on the traditional American folksong, this compelling tale recounts the daring adventures of one family's escape from slavery via the...

    Follow the Drinking Gourd