If you are teaching film or video at a college, whether history or theory or production, here is some Black cinema beyond the mainstream. This is a starter list to get things going. Once you begin the research, you’ll find a whole universe.
Indie and avant cinema - films and videos, shorts and features and art projects. Most of these are educational sale prices, of course colleges are going through tough budget times, but these filmmakers are worth the extra effort. Many should be on Kanopy too.
Info on the L.A. Rebellion filmmakers, starting in the 60s and 70s, including Charles Burnett, Larry Clark, Julie Dash, Zeinabu Irene Davis, Haile Gerima, Billy Woodberry and more:
Milestone Films
Bless Their Little Hearts (Woodberry)
Killer of Sheep (Burnett)
My Brother’s Wedding (Burnett)
Losing Ground (Kathleen Collins, recently rediscovered by audiences)
Julie Dash
Praise House (short)
Daughters of the Dust
Zeinabu Irene Davis
Compensation
Her doc on the LA Rebellion film scene:
Haile Gerima’s bookstore and cafe with DVDs available
some distributors =
Grasshopper Film
Khalik Allah
Black Mother
Kevin Jerome Everson
Erie
Akosua Adoma Owusu
Multiple shorts
Leilah Weinraub
Shakedown
Billy Woodberry
And When I Die I Won’t Stay Dead
more from Grasshopper on African-American studies
Video Databank
Ephraim Asili
multiple films
Kevin Jerome Everson
multiple films
First Run Features
Cheryl Dunye
The Watermelon Woman
multiple shorts
Thomas Allen Harris
Through A Lens, Darkly
And more filmmakers
Rodney Evans
multiple films
William Greaves
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm
Wendell B. Harris Jr.
Chameleon Street is getting restored now, new release announcement soon
Kahlil Joseph
Kalup Linzy
multiple films
Terence Nance
An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty
Marlon Riggs
Tongues Untied and more
Dee Rees
Pariah
RaMell Ross
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
____
BAM series on Black female directors
Black Cinema has always been here
