
10 Nov 2023

Stamped from the Beginning
Using innovative animation and expert insights, this documentary based on Ibram X. Kendi's bestseller explores the history of racist ideas in America.
John Henrik Clarke talks about Black history.
Narrator
10 Nov 2023
Using innovative animation and expert insights, this documentary based on Ibram X. Kendi's bestseller explores the history of racist ideas in America.
01 Apr 2008
The true story of the neighborhood that inspired David Simon's fictional HBO television series "Tremé", from slave revolts and underground free black antebellum resistance through post-Katrina rebuilding, set to a fabulous soundtrack of New Orleans music through the ages.
22 Nov 2024
More than 60,000 of Ernest Cole’s 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures he shot in the U.S. Told through Cole’s own writings, the stories of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation and will unravel the mystery of his missing negatives.
27 Apr 1976
For 'Et les chiens se taisaient' Maldoror adapted a piece of theatre by the poet and politician Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), about a rebel who becomes profoundly aware of his otherness when condemned to death. His existential dialogue with his mother reverberates around the African sculptures on display at the Musée de l'Homme, a Parisian museum full of colonial plunder whose director was the Surrealist anthropologist Michel Leiris.
05 Aug 2016
In 1936, 18 African American athletes dubbed the "black auxiliary" by Hitler defied Nazi Aryan Supremacy and Jim Crow Racism to win hearts and medals at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin. The world remembers Jesse Owens. But, Olympic Pride American Prejudice shows how all 18 are a seminal precursor to the modern Civil Rights Movement.
21 Feb 2024
By the end of his illustrious career, Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves may well have been the preeminent lawman of the Old West. He brought upwards of 3,000 outlaws to justice and served in law enforcement for 32 years during Reconstruction after the Civil War. His story is one of an escape to freedom and the dangers of the West for a former slave who rose to become a legend of the law. Join us as we go in search of Bass Reeves.
01 Mar 2002
Until 1942 around 100 German propaganda films were made, that were set in Africa. They were produced in Germany, with Black Germans and Africans living in Germany. Who were these Black extras and how did they come to Germany? Why did they work in film-making? Which roles did they play and what messages did they send? What were their daily experiences as Black people during the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Regime?
The Fillmore was once a thriving, vibrant, and multicultural community with one of the most prominent jazz scenes on the West Coast and hundreds of black-owned businesses. The neighborhood’s prosperity quickly came to an end as urban redevelopment tore through neighborhoods, pushing thousands of families and businesses out of the area. Despite this, hundreds of community activists today worked tirelessly to help reclaim the “Harlem of the West.”
22 Apr 2020
Sapelo is a feature-length documentary film that journeys within a unique American island to tell the story of two young brothers, their adoptive mother, and the last remaining enclave of the Saltwater Geechee people.
04 Sep 2004
The story of Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight boxing champion.
15 Nov 1942
Henry Browne, an African American farmer, and his family are profiled in this film. The important job of a farmer during times of war is highlighted, specifically his efforts growing peanuts and cotton. This role is made even more poingnant when they visit the eldest son who is a cadet in the 99th Pursuit Squadron.
10 Nov 2019
Maurice Hines, a charming, gay African-American entertainer navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, often estranged younger brother, tap dance legend Gregory Hines.
27 Oct 2022
From his Memphis studio, Ernest Withers’ nearly 2 million images were a treasured record of Black history but his legacy was complicated by decades of secret FBI service revealed only after his death. Was he a friend of the civil rights community, or enemy—or both?
09 Oct 2022
A look at the Black revolution in 1970s cinema, from genre films to social realism, from the making of new superstars to the craft of rising auteurs.
14 Mar 2021
Denver’s iconic and Grammy Award-winning musicians reveal the secrets of their success and longevity in the music business while warning the young lions to whom they pass the torch to stay relevant in a marketplace both treacherous and brutal. The majestic Rocky Mountains tower over a bustling metropolis filled with steamy and romantic nightclubs where jazz flourishes on stage. JazzTown features never seen before live concert footage on historic stages that have now crumbled due to economic stresses of the Covid Pandemic. ~ Dianne Reeves, 5-time Grammy Award winner for Best Jazz Vocalist ~ US Senator John Hickenlooper (former jazz club owner) ~ Ron Miles (Colorado Music Hall of Fame, Joshua Redman, Bill Frisell, Ginger Baker) ~ Charlie Hunter (Snarky Puppy, Christian McBride, Stanton Moore) ~ Art Lande (Mark Isham, Gary Peacock) ~ Ayo Awosika (Session Singer on Soundtracks to: Wakanda Forever, Nope, Dune, The Lion King ... tours with Miley Cyrus,) and many more.
04 Sep 2023
Prepare for an eye-opening journey into the heart of identity and division. 'Tethers' is a groundbreaking interview-style documentary that delves deep into the complex tapestry of cultural differences, racial tension, and the ethnocentric divide between Africans, African Americans, and Foundation Black Americans.
Nantali Indongo, the rapper of the group Nomadic Massive, has long refrained from using the word Bitch in the lyrics of the songs she sings. As an Afro-descendant and mother, she considers that this word’s purpose has always been to dehumanize the Black woman. However, at the junction of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, she decided for the f irst time to use the b-word as a cry from the heart in her song Time . Aware of the complexity posed by the trivialization of this word, she embarked on a “word movie” across the Americas to understand the origins of the word and its many connotations over time. Her journey allowed her to give a voice larger- than-life to Black women, so that they could themselves express their opinions on the word bitch.
23 Jan 2017
A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—Black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically Black for 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told.
Citizen Film collaborated with the African American Cultural and Historical Society to produce an initial short film on African American migration, which was screened at African American Art & Culture Complex and other cultural venues around the city during Black History Month, February 2019. This first iteration of the migration stories will pave the way for Citizen Film’s collaborative process with the historical society to include a chorus of voices documenting personal and social histories.
15 Sep 2007
This documentary captures the sounds and images of a nearly forgotten era in film history when African American filmmakers and studios created “race movies” exclusively for black audiences. The best of these films attempted to counter the demeaning stereotypes of black Americans prevalent in the popular culture of the day. About 500 films were produced, yet only about 100 still exist. Filmmaking pioneers like Oscar Micheaux, the Noble brothers, and Spencer Williams, Jr. left a lasting influence on black filmmakers, and inspired generations of audiences who finally saw their own lives reflected on the silver screen.