Black Star

A soulful and uplifting drama of mother-daughter bonds and deferred dreams.

The diversification of an all-black residence hall forces a group of African-American university students to take a stand on their own cultural beliefs and identities.

Raoul Peck’s penetrating and acclaimed documentary reconstructs an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin, chronicler of America’s Civil Rights Movement.

Part film-noir, part tragedy, this mesmerising documentary uncovers the true life of the legendary Billie Holiday.

The taped crusader: VHS nerds, media scholars and archive enthusiasts will appreciate this documentary about the African-American activist who recorded 30 years of TV news.

South Londoner Yemi Bamiro’s pacey, engrossing Michael Jordan documentary reveals the darker side of marketing trainers.

Romantic sparks fly between the daughters of two opposing politicians in Wanuri Kahiu’s neon-bright story of forbidden love in Kenya.

Budding writer Ayanna’s life is transformed over the course of one hot Harlem summer, when a handsome and mysterious stranger walks into her life.

While on probation, a man begins to re-evaluate his relationship with his volatile best friend, in this electrifying Sundance hit.

John Boyega excels as the security guard caught up in a violent conflagration during the riots of 1967, in Kathryn Bigelow's blistering thriller.

Unravelling the aftermath of a police killing of a black man - and how it affects the lives of three separate individuals. With John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman).

In his thrilling directorial debut, Idris Elba brings to life Victor Headley’s cult crime novel.

Fascinating delve into the career, personality and politics of award-winning musician M.I.A.  

A mild-mannered call centre operator whizzes up the corporate ladder after he discovers a unique ability to adopt a "white voice" in writer-director Boots Riley's breathlessly inventive satire.

Grace Jones is laid bare in this intimate and electrifying insight into the fascinating world of a pop-cultural phenomenon.

A decade after the release of Adulthood, Sam (Noel Clarke) is trying to keep his family safe while simmering old grudges threaten to resurface.

Noel Clarke and Menhaj Huda’s explosive youth film follows the drug, sex and crime-fuelled antics of a group of West London teens over the course of a single day.

After being released from prison following a murder charge, Sam Peel (Noel Clarke) attempts to reboot his life and seek redemption.

Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender star in Steve McQueen’s fearless, Oscar-winning story of a free man who’s sold into slavery.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Kate Winslet and Woody Harrelson make up the heavyweight cast for John Hillcoat’s (The Proposition) stunning heist thriller.

Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in the acclaimed adaption of the Orange Prize-winning novel.

An impoverished Miami preacher is lured into terrorism by the FBI, in the latest explosive satire from comedy genius Chris Morris.

Set in a Deep South delta, Zeitlin’s feature debut takes a child’s eye view of poverty, adult apathy and ecological crisis. Hallucinatory fare

After being released from prison, a young African American woman goes in search of her father.

Denzel Washington takes the lead in one of the great screen biopics, directed by Spike Lee.

Spike Lee’s awesome cinematic sucker-punch remains one of the great films about race relations.

Spike Lee’s bold and vivacious hip-hop musical restages an ancient Greek battle-of-the-sexes in 21st-century Chicago.

Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for his extraordinary performance as Ray Charles, in a film that revived the potency of the musical biopic.

Stunning revelations and captivating reminiscences paint a picture of the extraordinary life of singer Whitney Houston, in this in-depth portrait by acclaimed filmmaker Kevin MacDonald (Touching the Void, Marley).

Documentary titan Nick Broomfield turns his gaze to the troubled pop star whose sensational voice masked an inner identity crisis.

Winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Picture (eventually!), Barry Jenkins’ intoxicating drama follows the furtive life of a gay black boy through 80s Miami.

Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen star in the triple Oscar®-winning comic roadmovie, about the unlikely friendship between an acclaimed pianist and his bouncer.

Barry Jenkins follows his Oscar®-winning Moonlight with an audacious, distinctive and assured adaptation of James Baldwin’s account of love, injustice and racism in America.

This moving documentary shines a spotlight on the backing singers behind some of the great musical hits of the 21st century.

Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.

Nancy Buirski's vital documentary revisits an unjustly forgotten chapter of American history; the story of an immensely brave woman who refused to be silenced.

The first black recruit in his squad, rookie cop J.J. Johnson (Michael Boatman) struggles to adapt to life on the force, in this thrilling drama from acclaimed director Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep).

Rap legends Ice Cube and Ice-T share a screen for the first time as gang members facing off against firemen hunting for a stash of gold.

Tupac Shakur’s penultimate film is his most impressive; a darkly humorous drama in which he takes a daring role as a heroin addict.

A tight-knit group of friends decide to rob banks in this unapologetically subversive display of black female agency.

Big Audio Dynamite’s Don Letts made his acting debut in this gripping, gritty 1990 drama of dreads, drugs, and music business corruption.

LL Cool J plays the ultimate player, hired to seduce the sister-in-law from hell.

Samuel L. Jackson stars in this seething slice of Southern Gothic, about the travails of a Louisiana family bedevilled by infidelity, incest and witchcraft.

Quentin Tarantino’s crackling crime classic still retains its swagger as one of the great American films of recent decades.

Haroun's tale of tension between a father and son working at a hotel pool in war-torn Chad has the emotional power and stark inexorability of tragedy

A high-flying black professional finally finds the man of her dreams, only for her family to disapprove because he’s a white guy.

Idris Elba’s kickstarted his Hollywood film career as a mechanic trying to win back his kids’ custody, in this melodrama from black auteur Tyler Perry.

Malcolm D. Lee set the standard for middle-class black comedy with this smart, chic feature about a best man whose indiscreet novel scuppers the wedding plans.

Julie Dash’s groundbreaking Daughters of the Dust remains urgent and poetic and continues to resonate, most recently inspiring Beyoncé’s Lemonade.

Star-crossed lovers from rival street gangs conduct an illicit affair in this pulsating urban romance.

Milo isn't your usual introverted, strange teenager; he also believes he's a vampire. Michael O'Shea's dark drama presents a transgressive twist on the teen vampire tale.

This smart, sophisticated, Sundance-nominated romance follows the first date of a couple who would go on to change the world – Barack and Michelle Obama.

In the wake of the London riots, teenager Jamie (Letitia Wright) finds herself at a crossroads; until music offers an unexpected path to salvation.

Street-smart Hackney comedy about three friends whose unexpected cash windfall funds the mother of all parties; from the talents behind YouTube hit Mandem on the Wall.

Carol Morley's drama-documentary investigates the tragic death of a woman whose body lay undetected for almost three years.

Amma Assante (Belle) directs this impassioned drama starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike depicting an interracial romance that changed the world.

David Oyelowo’s stunning performance as Martin Luther King Jr. adorns this gripping account of the campaign that changed the course of American civil rights.

The remarkable story of Jesse Owens, the grandson of a slave whose athletic feats defied Nazi ideology at the 1936 Olympics.

Australian director Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah) brings a vital Indigenous perspective and great cinematic vision to this powerful, revisionist Western, with Sam Neill and Bryan Brown.

An ensemble cast including Janet Jackson and Whoopi Goldberg bring to life Ntozake Shange's extraordinary 1975 play about the experiences of black women.

Toni, an eleven year-old tomboy, finds a new purpose when an epidemic of seizures strikes her dance class, in this riveting and psychological character portrait from filmmaker Anna Rose Holmer.

The story of how one of the 20th century's most important artists emerged from the post-punk, b-boy and graffiti scenes of late '70s New York.

A cricketing comedy of manners exploring white and black stereotypes, from pioneering British filmmaker Horace Ové.

David Fincher's breakthrough film is a disturbing and visceral thriller starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as detectives hunting down a meticulous serial killer.

An HIV+ mother has a chance to turn her life around when she's offered a market stall, in Leanne Welham's extraordinary drama.

The Hughes brothers' lean, powerful and unflinching look at the mean streets of the urban ghetto.

Aliens wage war on a tower block after one of their number is bludgeoned by a street gang in this witty, action-packed feature debut by Joe Cornish.

Spike Lee's stunning crime drama tells the stranger-than-fiction true story of an African-American police officer who infiltrated the KKK in the 1970s.

The four young runners on the Team GB women's relay team battle to overcome rivalries and personal demons in time for the World Athletics Championship.

Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel star in Paul Schrader’s great, gritty 1970s drama, one of the rare Hollywood films to tackle American labour.

Richard Pryor plays the everyman who inherits a vast estate with a massive catch: he’ll have to spend $30million in 30 days in order to inherit it all.

NYC becomes Oz in the cult, urban reimagining of the family favourite, featuring an all-African American cast including Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

Douglas Sirk’s final Hollywood film is a masterpiece of melodrama, for which Juanita Moore became the fifth African-American Oscar-nominee.

Landmark film from 'zombie godfather' Romero, whose makeshift heroes fight for their lives against a new and terrifying enemy.

What do you do when a Hollywood star makes a film in your neighbourhood? Nick his chair, of course!

Aretha Franklin, at the height of her powers, returns to the music which nurtured her prodigious talent.

By far the best film version of Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern’s landmark stage show.

Featuring an all-star, all-African-American cast, Cabin in the Sky plays like a gospel reworking of Faust and the Wizard of Oz.

A fostered Nigerian boy growing up in Essex loses all sense of identity and joins a racist skinhead gang. Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Oz, Lost) directs this powerful drama based on his own, extraordinary upbringing.

Andrea Arnold dazzles with a sun-soaked and tune-filled epic about door-to-door teenage magazine sellers (led by Shia LeBeouf) traversing the American highways.

Desiree Akhavan’s award-winning follow-up to Appropriate Behaviour, with Chloë Grace Moretz as a teen sent to a gay conversion camp.

Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-nominated directorial debut finds Jessica Chastain’s ‘poker princess’ struggling to stay in the game when the FBI raises the stakes.

Gather around the campfire for one of the all-time great film comedies, Mel Brooks’ inspired and anarchic deconstruction of the cowboy film.

Russell Tovey stars as a Premier League footballer who shares a fumbled pass (of the sexual kind) with a teammate (Arinzé Kene), changing everything - both on and off the pitch.

Oscar Micheaux’s startling silent classic – the earliest surviving feature from an African-American director – presents a fascinating black counterpoint to Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.

Spencer Williams feverish melodrama about a woman’s flirtation with Satan was independently produced out of Texas with an amateur cast and a budget of $5,000.

Oscar Micheaux directs the story of a Harvard graduate whose attempts to establish a rural school runs into opposition from both races.

Amma Asante (Belle, A United Kingdom) presents this rites-of-passage story of a bi-racial teen struggling for survival in Nazi Germany.

Trey Edward Shults (It Comes at Night) continues to impress with one of the year's most dazzling cinematic achievements, a study of a family's dramatic unravelling and redemption.

Cynthia Erivo gives a show-stopping turn as the American revolutionary anti-slavery heroine Harriet Tubman in Kasi Lemmons' biopic.

Ridley Scott’s heavyweight crime drama follows the rise and fall of drug-runner Frank Lucas, commandingly portrayed by Denzel Washington.

Richard Pryor sets out on the road to redemption, as an ex-con ferrying a busload of troubled kids on a wild cross-country adventure.

Richard Pryor, Bill Duke, Antonio Fargas are among the ensemble cast for the cult comedy set in a California car wash.