In response to the calls for change that have happened the last ten days or so — after the barbaric murder of George Floyd by police officers (and the countless other lives claimed, including Breonna Taylor; today would have been her twenty seventh birthday) — I have assembled twenty one of the many wonderful works by black filmmakers that demand to be heard and seen. I don’t feel it’s right to do some spiel to introduce this. I don’t want to “sell” this idea.

Instead, here are a number of resources to better understand the situation, and what you can do to help inspire change regarding police brutality, racial inequality, and supporting black communities as a whole. You will see that these are pulled from other websites, which were diligent enough to supply the online populace with the proper tools as swiftly as possible.

• It’s Nice That has compiled a number of charities, petitions, articles, and other sources for research. I’ll include the charities listed here. Credit goes to It’s Nice That for the great compilation of necessary materials.

-Black Lives Matter
-The Bail Project
-The Liberty Fund
-Reclaim the Block
-I Run with Maud
-Campaign Zero
-Unicorn Riot
-American Civil Liberties Union
-Stand Up to Racism UK

•Charis Books & More have released a list of books for white readers that wish to learn more about systemic racism, inherited bigotry, and other forms of injustice that can be masked by white washed history lessons and publications. You can find that list here.

•For local Toronto readers, Now Toronto has assembled many city charities. Here are the charities once again.

-Across Boundaries
-Black Food Toronto
-Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention Toronto
-Black Legal Action Centre
-Black Creek Community Farm
-Black Lives Matter Toronto Chapter
-Blackstone Foundation Library
-Black Lives Matter COVID-19 Fund
-Black Business and Professional Association
-Black Women in Motion
-Caribbean African Canadian School Services
-CEE Toronto for Young Black Professionals
-Eritrean-Ethiopian COVID Solidarity Fund
-Black Mental Health Matters Fund
-NIA Centre for the Arts
-Not Another Black Life
-Obsidian Theatre
-OCAMA Collective
-Taibu Community Health Centre
-Tropicana Community
-Walnut Foundation
-Women’s Health in Women’s Hands

Sophia Conti has compiled 181 various black-owned businesses to support, which can all be found here.

Thanks goes to the original sources listed for their accumulation of charities and other resources that are pertinent to creating change.

We must all do what we can to finally inspire change. The time is now.

12 Years a Slave: Steve McQueen
Telling Solomon Northup’s years of abuse on various plantations, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave is a harrowing look at racism. Aside from the disgusting history of slavery, Northup’s recounts show a different side of racism, including those that went against the law to continue harbouring racist ideologies in America (the men that trapped Northup, who was legally declared a free man), and the abuses of power when someone values another race below their own.

13th: Ava DuVernay
Of all the important works by Ava DuVernay, 13th is the most eye opening event. Detailing the problematic nature of the thirteenth amendment of the United States Constitution, DuVernay sheds light on how a loophole in America’s creed is constantly used against persons of colour on a frequent basis. 13th was already a documentary that was essential viewing upon release. Today, it’s unquestionably vital.

Boyz n the Hood: John Singleton
John Singletone’s debut film is a thorough depiction of a Californian ghetto, and the struggles that black youths encounter trying to grow out of dangerous, impoverished surroundings. Detailed with so many intricate subtleties, Boyz n the Hood is meticulous in creating an atmosphere for outsiders to understand. Singleton was the first black director nominated for an Academy Award in that category ever in 1991. That alone is a saddening fact.

Cooley High: Michael Schultz
This Chicago high school dramedy by the prolific Michael Schultz is an incredibly important film in the context of the progression of black cinema, because of its construction of similar coming-of-age teen films of the time (in terms of demographics, art, and even story telling). The change-of-heart at the core of the film represents a fate that Schultz and writer Eric Monte wish for all viewers to soak in.

Daughters of the Dust: Julie Dash
Still one of cinema’s most detailed period pieces of all time, Julie Dash’s exquisite Daughters of the Dust is an elaborate portrait of the Gullah community of the turn of the twentieth century. Using authentic language and clothing, Dash creates a non-skewed film of historical accuracy, ushering in a new lesson for a new age without being silenced or taken out of context.

Devil in a Blue Dress: Carl Franklin
Carl Franklin cleverly combines the classic Hollywood detective story with police and political corruption in Devil in a Blue Dress, where iconic literary character Easy Rawlins is introduced to the many levels of societal inequity. Franklin transforms Walter Mosley’s novel into a powerful ‘90s statement, especially concerning hierarchal injustice.

Do the Right Thing: Spike Lee
Many Spike Lee films can be placed here, but, for obvious reasons, Do the Right Thing is the film I’m going with. It’s been thirty one years, and still the world is struggling to stop repeating history. Radio Raheem is any person of colour slain by cop. Mookie is any person tired of an entire race being ignored. You can attribute any character to most current scenarios, and they hold true. Do the Right Thing is purposefully complex, but it takes a strong stance that continues to fall on deaf ears: police brutality is, and was, never okay.

Fruitvale Station: Ryan Coogler
The life of Oscar Grant was cut short due to being murdered by a cop, so Ryan Coogler spent his opportunity for his first feature film to give him life once more. Fruitvale Station is Grant’s last day alive, and Coogler humanizes him so the world can understand the gravity of how unjust his death was. For an hour and a half, we’re with him. The film includes documented footage of Grant’s death, so we are fully aware of this gruesome reality the entire time we get attached to his character. One of the many lives ended early by a broken society.

Get Out: Jordan Peele
It might be easy to take Jordan Peele’s breakthrough feature for granted, but Get Out is especially important in a time like this. Introducing outliers to “the sunken place”, Peele managed to label the daily feeling of discomfort that persons of colour experience. Turning a discussion of systemic racism into an absurdist thriller, Get Out was a work of horror for some, but reality captured for many.

The Hate U Give: George Tillman Jr.
The words of Angie Thomas were treated extremely well by George Tillman Jr., turning the popular teen novel into a high school drama for today’s age. The Hate U Give is a fantastic depiction of neighbourhood based racism and police brutality in a capsule for teenagers to understand, and not a single second is sugar coated. Instead, teens are, for once, treated seriously with the discussion at hand.

I Am Not Your Negro: Raoul Peck
James Baldwin remains one of America’s most inspirational and innovative writers, so Raoul Peck’s documentary about him is truly special. I Am Not Your Negro is Baldwin’s depiction of black history throughout America, ranging from the works of activists to the battles many persons of colour still had to face. Derived from an incomplete manuscript, even Baldwin’s unfinished thoughts are words of wisdom that are needed to be heard in a world desperate for change.

I Am Somebody: Madeline Anderson
Madeline Anderosn’s inspirational documentary short I Am Somebody called for the rights of African American women in the United States, and was one of the preliminary cinematic voices of a blame female, back in 1969. Focusing on the Charleston strike of female hospital workers, I Am Somebody is a poignant discussion of required change, when women and persons of colour weren’t being paid what they deserved; it’s a conversation that sadly still continues to this day.

If Beale Street Could Talk: Barry Jenkins
Of the Barry Jenkins films that could be featured here, If Beale Street Could Talk felt the most appropriate. An adaptation of the novel of the same name by James Baldwin, Jenkins’ aesthetic take on this tale of wrongful conviction is striking. Featuring a baby on its way, Beale Street is the literal and metaphorical slowing-down of growth by both bigotry and the refusal to listen.

Killer of Sheep: Charles Burnett
Charles Burnett’s magnum opus is this homage to Italian Neorealism. Like the movement did for the impoverished communities in Italy, Burnett’s Killer of Sheep aimed to create a real sensation for viewers to understand the African-American working class struggles. The various vignettes are slightly held together by the unifying theme of societal disruption, and the neglect of poorer communities.

La Noire de…: Ousmane Sembène
This spectacular take on African colonialism by Ousmane Sembène continues to resonate over fifty years since its release. Less than an hour long, La Noire de… still manages to contain an entire life of destitution and judgmental societies. Juxtaposing the lead character’s poor life in Senegal and her difficult life as a maid in Paris, La Noire de… is the downward spiral of someone wanting to break out of a life of economic struggle, only to be stymied by a racist society.

Pariah: Dee Rees
Dee Rees has released a number of excellent works in the 2010’s, and the best place to start is with her debut Pariah. Telling the tale of a lesbian teenager trying to manage many of society’s metaphorical barricades, Pariah is a lush experience, detailing the hardships of a youth that feels cast aside by social circumstances beyond her control.

Sankofa: Haile Gerima
Halle Gerima’s Sankofa is a bit more of a literal take on heritage, as it features a model that spiritually gets placed in the body of an ancestor that is enslaved on a plantation. As a means of reconnecting the newer generations with the challenging centuries of slavery that preceded them, Sankofa is an upfront, fantasy look at the importance of never departing too far away from one’s past, as to not forget how change can still be implemented today.

Shaft: Gordon Parks
There are many blaxploitation films that can be selected, but it may be wise to go with one of the earliest — and strongest — entries with Gordon Parks’ iconic film Shaft. A piece of a counter cultural movement that aimed to change black representation in film, Shaft remains one of the style’s definitive works, allowing much needed changes in Hollywood to take place.

Strong Island: Yance Ford
Yance Ford’s shocking documentary Strong Island is even more deeply personal compared to many of the works already discussed here, as Ford investigates why his brother was murdered back in 1992. Uncovering the many layers of racism in New York, Ford’s revisitation of the darkest moment in his life is difficult to watch, but important for the world to know.

Tongues Untied: Marlon Riggs
One of the earliest depictions of homosexuality amongst the African-American community, Marlon Riggs’ crucial documentary Tongues Untied was a wake up call to a world that was unaware of these silenced voices. Merging artistic representations — through poetry — and actual footage, Tongues Untied is the unity of all words on the matter, letting the world hear them all at once.

The Watermelon Woman: Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye created this mockumentary drama for one primary reason: black and queer voices in cinema have been scrubbed from archives, databases, books, and other forms of records. Creating a fictitious African-American actress called the Watermelon Woman, Dunye’s take is important, because it’s the literal creation of history in order to explain a history that has been single handedly erased due to bigotry.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Celebrating Black Filmmakers: Twenty One Crucial Works

We must all do what we can to finally inspire change. The time is now.