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Black Culture Films
Black Culture Documentaries
Quite often and particularly in the United States, it is commonplace to understand the black cultural experience largely through the lenses of slavery and the Civil Rights movement. And to be certain, these are aspects of the experience that have left indelible imprints on black identity. However, as the collection of documentaries assessed here denotes, the black cultural experience is diverse and nuanced in a way that often goes unnoted in the discourse over struggle and oppression. This is particularly on display in the pair of documentary installments by Basil Davidson, which are concerned with the cultural conditions both historical and present in different parts of Africa.
Indeed, what is so compelling about works such as Caravans of Gold is that such films alter the discussion on the black cultural experience by reflecting on the variant of positive contributions made to the evolution of global culture by the African continent. With...
Instead, the Davidson documentary reports on the history of Ghana and surrounding nations in the proliferation of not just the global gold trade but also the global evolution of iron and iron industries. Here, the African continent is seen as an early progenitor of a worldwide industrial revolution. Moreover, Davidson points to some of the great universities such as Sankore, which attract scholars from the world over to West African educational communities.
Many of the impressions offered in this documentary are echoed in Davidsons Kings and Cities, which explore West African with an emphasis on the relative economic prosperity enjoyed here. Especially as this stands in contrast to more commonly proliferated impressions of the African experience, this particular installment of the Davidson series helps to provide a portrayal of…
" The Aftermath Uncle Tom characters were common in both white and black productions of the time, yet no director before Micheaux had so much as dared to shine a light on the psychology that ravages such characters. By essentially bowing to the two white men, Micheaux implied that Old Ned was less than a man; an individual whittled down to nothing more than yes-man and wholly deprived of self-worth. At this
From this came our insistence on the drama of the doorstep" (cited by Hardy 14-15). Grierson also notes that the early documentary filmmakers were concerned about the way the world was going and wanted to use all the tools at hand to push the public towards greater civic participation. With the success of Drifters, Grierson was able to further his ideas, but rather than directing other films, he devoted his time
Spike Lee, Jay-Z and Black Culture Often, the leading figures in black cultural history are those that have played a direct role in the struggles for freedom, Civil Rights and equality. This certainly speaks to the inextricable link between African-American identity and a long history of oppression. However, it would be remiss to overlook the incredible contributions made to black cultural identity by those who have most visibility optimized the freedoms
Michael Moore so Controversial? Michael Moore was born in 1954 in Flint, Michigan -- "the home of the wealthiest corporation in the world: General Motors." (Roger and Me, 1989). The tragic plight of this once economically booming, blue-collar city is the basis for much of his filmmaking; and it is what formed the foundation for his particular outlook on the state of American society. The theme of corporate abuse and
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Blade Runner: A Marriage of Noir and Sci-Fi Blade Runner is a 1982 film noir/science fiction film set in 2019 that depicts a world that is threatened by human advancements in technology. In the film, robotic humanoids become self-aware and decide that it is within their right to live past their predetermined expiration dates and set out to find a way to live among humans and defy scientists, whom arbitrarily decided