The 50 Greatest Films by Black Directors
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at 12:00PM Slate magazine has drawn up an interesting list of great black films, the twist being that they have to have been directed by a black person rather than about the black experience so out go Old Hollywood musicals like Carmen Jones or Cabin in the Sky or Oscar favorites like Sounder. In the wake of recent conversations about Hollywood's power structures and overwhelming whiteness, Slate assembled a field of critics and filmmakers and scholars to produce the list.
Eve's Bayou
I need to get cracking on my gaps in knowledge from this list, especially because of the titles I've seen from this list several were great and the ones I didn't personally connect to were still interesting (Night Catches Us) or memorable (Eve's Bayou - I've been meaning to give that another shot now that I'm older). Unsurprisingly Spike Lee has the most titles with six. Curiously, though I've seen many Spike Lee joints (and tend to like them - I'd have included Chi-Raq on this list), I've only seen half of his titles that actually made it (gotta get to Mo' Better Blues, Crooklyn, and When the Levees Broke soon). The list is after the jump...
THE 50 BEST FILMS BY BLACK DIRECTORS
in alpha order
Crooklyn
12 Years a Slave (2013), 25th Hour (2002), Ashes and Embers (1982), Belle (2014), Bessie (2015), Black Girl (1966), The Blood of Jesus (1941), Boyz n the Hood (1991), Car Wash (1976), Cooley High (1975), Creed (2015), Crooklyn (1994), Daughters of the Dust (1991), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Do the Right Thing (1989), Eve's Bayou (1997), Friday (1995), Fruitvale Station (2014), Hollywood Shuffle (1987), House Party (1990), I Like it Like That (1994), Juice (1992), Just Another Girl on the IRT (1992), Killer of Sheep (1978), The Learning Tree (1969), Losing Ground (1982), Love and Basketball (2000), Malcolm X (1992), Medicine for Melancholy (2006), Middle of Nowhere (2012), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Night Catches Us (2010), O.J. Made in America (2016)...
Tongues Untied
Pariah (2011), Sankofa (1993), Selma (2014), Shaft (1971), The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), Sugar Cane Alley (1983), Super Fly (1972), Sweet Sweetback's Badasssss Song (1971), Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), Timbuktu (2014), To Sleep With Anger (1990), Tongues Untied (1989), Touki Bouki (1973), Waiting to Exhale (1995), Within Our Gates (1920), The Watermelon Woman (1996), and When the Levees Broke (2006)
How many have you seen? What would you include that's not here? Some notable titles I've seen people mention that aren't on the list include Chameleon Street (1989), Hyenas (1992), and Menace II Society (1993) and Hunger (2008). The list skews very American, partially because of the panel and cultural dominance of US cinema, surely, but also because African cinema doesn't get much attention at all from cinephiles and film festivals. African films by black directors that were deemed strong enough to enter for the Oscar race include: Our Daughter (1980), Yaaba (1989), Lamb (2015) and three films from Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, one of the rare African filmmakers embraced by Cannes: Abouna (2002), A Screaming Man (2010), and GriGris (2013).
On a personal note, I have seen way too few of these pictures. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to see both Pariah and Tongues Untied here, because they fit another list, too: Awesome but severely underappreciated LGBT films. Film titles that made my top tens in their respective years are: 12 Years a Slave, 25th Hour, Middle of Nowhere, and Selma; Honorable mentions in their years: Malcolm X and Creed.
Reader Comments (26)
Mississippi Damned, a (recent) largely unseen gem by Tina Mabry, is an absolute must-see. I've been shouting this one from the rooftops since I saw it on Netflix Instant. It's still there, so go check it out this visually compelling (lensed by Bradford Young), emotionally wrenching look at one black family across two decades.
Also on Netflix and absolutely worth the time (<80 mins) is Ava Duvernay's first feature, I Will Follow. I actually prefer it to Middle of Nowhere. It connected with me on a deeply personal level given the subject matter: a caregiver sorting through the earthly possessions and emotional detritus left behind by her aunt.
I've seen 20 and many of them are amazing, so I'll definitely need to catch up.
Nat, you should see 'When The Levees Broke', which is phenomenal. Spike Lee is so underrated as a documentarian (4 Little Girls is great too). I find his activist voice fits so perfectly with that style of filmmaking.
I'm very surprised 'Menace II Society' wasn't on the list. Seems like it was a very significant black film of the 90s (it even beat Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and Philadelphia at the MTV Movie Awards!).
I wouldn't mind revisiting "I Like It Like That" and "Eve's Bayou."
How many of those movies actually come from Africa?
I'm asking because at first glance, this list seems practically devoid of most significant classics of African cinema I can think of. I see 'Black Girl' and 'Touki Bouki', but where is Souleymane Cissé's 'Yeelen'? Where is Ousmane Sembène's 'Moolaadé'? Where is Med Hondo's 'Soleil O'? I find any list that has room for 'Devil in a Blue Dress' and 'Waiting to Exhale' (!), but not for these key movies from African film history, rather hard to take serious...
Crooklyn is stunning. I know Nick recently flipped for it.
I try not to null a whole list based off one bad inclusion but Friday is a dreadful collection of fat/gay jokes that cannot possibly be better than, what, 99% of African cinema?
Waiting to Exhale is not the only film that really shouldn't be on this list, especially when She's Gotta Have It and Inside Man (to mention two more interesting US features) aren't.
I've seen 36 of these. I've missed some of the ones from Africa and a lot of the mainstream US fare.
Judging from twenty-two films that I've seen, it's clear -- at least to me -- that some of these movies probably were included more for their cultural impact than the sheer quality of the filmmaking. I have to say that I'm somewhat surprised not to see Precious, New Jack City, Boomerang, or Harlem Nights mentioned -- especially considering what the panel made room for.
Of these 50? 11. Personal top 10s in their years? Creed, Killer of Sheep, Selma, 12 Years a Slave, Do the Right Thing. Biggest surprises that aren't on the list? Yeelen, Straight Outta Compton and, yes, Chi-Raq. Stuff on my "to-watch" list? 25th Hour, Car Wash, Cooley High, Crooklyn, Devil in a Blue Dress, Eve's Bayou, Friday, Hollywood Shuffle, Middle of Nowhere, Mo' Better Blues, Pariah, The Spook Who Sat by the Door and Sweet Sweetback. Stuff that I doubt holds up enough? Ashes and Embers, The Blood of Jesus, Daughters of the Dust, House Party, I Like it Like That and Their Eyes Were Watching God. What I'm saying is: This isn't bad, but in two years, Black Panther might be able to get on here. Easily.
Andrew Dosunmu's "Mother Of George" is pretty fantastic and I'd put it in the top 50, easily.
Not concern with the lack of inclusion of African cinema. African-Americans telling their stories making up a list like this is just fine. And there are titles I would delete to make space for others but their inclusion does not devalue the list.
Since you have difficulty responding to a lot of black material Nathaniel it maybe impossible to recommend anything to you in good conscious. Eve's Bayou being something that ran cold for you and the same applies to The Color Purple -- I think you can only appreciate black culture through the pink filter of Pariah, Paris is Burning, and RuPaul's Drag Race.
I like Waiting to Exhale. Terry McMillan is an entertaining writing and though I believe she believes what she writes is significant it is pretty shallow hence none of the adaptations of her books being rich with depth and substance.
@AR:
Oh dear. I totally missed the inclusion of 'Friday' when I scanned over the list. This really is beyond ridiculous.
Even if you ignore the fact that many great African movies are missing, this list considers 'Friday' to be better than 'Precious'. I really can't wrap my mind around that fact. It makes me think of that wonderful quote by Gene Siskel: "There is a point when a personal opinion shades off into an error of fact. When you say 'The Valachi Papers' is a better film than 'The Godfather,' you are wrong."
"The Learning Tree", excellent late sixties film by Gordon Parks, ,and broke many barriers.
Precious is perhaps the biggest omission here, along with Sembene's Xala and Mambety's Hyenas. Admittedly, I also love Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls, but that's a more personal pick than a genuine admiration of its entire craft.
I'm surprised Moolaadé and Precious aren't on there.
I have seen half of the films here with my personal favorites include "Eve's Bayou", "Pariah", "Devil In a Blue Dress" and "Middle of Nowhere". I'm also suprised "Precious" is not on here but glad nothing from Tyler Perry is on the list.
African cinema as quoted by other posts obviously (Sembene, Cissé & so forth), there cd have been more directors from the "blaxploitation age" and for more recent films, how could they miss Steve McQueen's Hunger ? Is it because it's about white characters only ?
25th Hour is about a white protagonist and it's included on the list.
Nat
I do not think you lack concern on Africa. American movies.
No 4 Little Girls by Spike Lee?
I'll echo everyone who mentioned "Hyenas." A towering achievement that really needs to be seen.
I've seen 30.
Some of the inclusions were a bit jarring at first, but I like how unexpected some of the choices feel. It wouldn't make my list, but I think the sequels that Friday spawned have tarnished its reputation. It's no masterpiece but it's a much less egregious addition than the unfulfilling TV-adaptation of Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Mississippi Damned and Mother of George, both of which have already been mentioned in the comments, could easily take the place of either of those two films.
Nathaniel, Eve's Bayou is a favorite of mine and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it if you ever get a chance to revisit.
So glad to see To Sleep With Anger on there. Probably in my Top 50 favourite movies of all time (below Do The Right Thing and Killer Of Sheep but then what isn't?)
While we're discussing populist inclusions, my heart would have skipped a beat if...
***this was about to be a love letter to Set It Off, until I remembered that F. Gary Gray isn't black, is he? I would still love to read an article on this movie - actresses underused (Elise), under appreciated (Pinkett), underestimated (Latifah) and simply forgotten (Fox) unite!***
Eve's Bayou is a film I am scared to see - it ticks so many boxes for me and should be one of my ultimate favourites. Yet what if it disappoints? Is it better to keep my imaginary version in tact?
kernit_the_frog, F. Gary Gray is indeed black, which is why Friday is on this list, but again that begs the question of why certain other films of his are excluded -- most notably The Negotiator and, of course, Straight Outta Compton.
So glad they mentioned Daughters of the Dust and The Learning Tree. I'm surprised not a single Sidney Poitier-directed film made the list (Uptown Saturday Night, Let's Do It Again, and Buck and the Preacher being my faves).
Debbi Morgan in Eve's Bayou: The very best supporting actress performance of the 1990s.
I agree with NewMoonSon about Debbi Morgan in Eve's Bayou, but I have to admit I tried to love that movie and failed. Maybe I will try again. I thought this was an interesting list. It probably would have been better if they had limited it to American films so it wouldn't look so skewed, but the purpose of lists like these is to start conversation, right? Success! Also to make everyone add titles to their personal to-watch lists. Double success!