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Black Star
Our subscription selection celebrating black stardom, focusing on British talents and pioneering performers.
Our highlights here range from Ousmane Sembéne's groundbreaking 1965 film Black Girl all the way up to 2004’s acclaimed British crime drama Bullet Boy and beyond. Begin a mesmerising journey through the talent of black cinema right here.
Second ComingSecond Coming
Drama2014105 minsDirector: debbie tucker green
What if an immaculate conception took place in a South London household? Idris Elba stars in a subtle, thought-provoking and original family drama.
The Stuart Hall ProjectThe Stuart Hall Project
Documentary201399 minsDirector: John Akomfrah
Composed of film, music and photographs from the archives, a fascinating portrait of the life and times of the founder of cultural studies and the New Left Experience.
The Last TreeThe Last Tree
Drama201999 minsDirector: Shola Amoo
Femi, a young British boy of Nigerian heritage, has to adapt to the new environment of inner-city London, in this outstanding, BIFA-winning drama from Shola Amoo (A Moving Image).
GirlhoodGirlhood
Drama2014113 minsDirector: Céline Sciamma
In the tough suburbs of Paris, sixteen-year-old Marieme decides to reinvent herself when she joins a girl gang.
The Watermelon WomanThe Watermelon Woman
Comedy199785 minsDirector: Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye's smart and funny romance - thought to be the first feature directed by a black lesbian - remains a breath of fresh air decades on.
Stud LifeStud Life
Drama201287 minsDirector: Campbell X
Campbell X's debut feature is a sexy, young and cool gay romance taking a unique look at a slice of British urban life.
The Harder They ComeThe Harder They Come
Drama1972103 minsDirector: Perry Henzell
The cult classic, acknowledged as the catalyst for the popularisation of reggae in the US, sees Jimmy Cliff traversing the underbelly of Jamaican shanty-town life.
Black OrpheusBlack Orpheus
Romance1959107 minsDirector: Marcel Camus
Thrilling re-working of the Orpheus myth, incorporating the music, costume and dance of Brazil’s Rio Festival.
WalkaboutWalkabout
Drama1970101 minsDirector: Nicolas Roeg
Jenny Agutter plays the teenage girl reliant on a young Aboriginal (David Gulpilil) for her survival, in Nicolas Roeg's stunning Australian outback drama.
HoneydripperHoneydripper
Drama2007124 minsDirector: John Sayles
Acclaimed writer-director John Sayles brings the birth of rock 'n' roll to life with electrifying effect, with Danny Glover heading up a stellar cast.
Black GirlBlack Girl
Drama196559 minsDirector: Ousmane Sembène
The first major work by African master Ousmane Sembène, about a Senegalese maid’s despair, brims with both New Wave vitality and African heart.
Fear Eats the SoulFear Eats the Soul
Melodrama197493 minsDirector: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fassbinder’s international breakthrough, this unconventional love story combines lucid social analysis with devastating emotional power.
Bullet BoyBullet Boy
Drama200486 minsDirector: Saul Dibb
Ashley Walters impresses in the hard-hitting Hackney drama that’s still one of the best of Britain’s black urban crime films.
Burning an IllusionBurning an Illusion
Legal and Courtroom drama1981102 minsDirector: Menelik Shabazz
Menelik Shabazz’s pioneering first feature traces the emotional and political growth of a young black couple in Thatcher’s London.
PressurePressure
Drama1975121 minsDirector: Horace Ové
Hailed as Britain's first black feature film, Pressure is a hard-hitting, honest document of the plight of disenchanted black youths in 1970s London.
BallastBallast
Drama200796 minsDirector: Lance Hammer
Three haunted souls are thrust into co-existence in this searing debut work from Lance Hammer, a double prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival.
My Brother the DevilMy Brother the Devil
Drama2012107 minsDirector: Sally El Hosaini
Sally El Hosaini's feature debut tells of the love and disenchantment of two British-Egyptian brothers. Gangs, drugs and sexuality come between them
Assault on Precinct 13Assault on Precinct 13
Police drama197691 minsDirector: John Carpenter
Besieged in an abandoned police station, a lone cop and his skeleton staff recruit a condemned killer from the cells in a desperate battle to survive the night, in John Carpenter's brutal and unrelenting cult classic.
Leave It on the FloorLeave It on the Floor
Drama2011106 minsDirector: Sheldon Larry
Sheldon Larry’s audacious, raunchy and big-hearted voguing musical, set in downtown LA.
Young Soul RebelsYoung Soul Rebels
Drama1991105 minsDirector: Isaac Julien
The Queen's Silver Jubilee beats to the sounds of Funkadelic, Sylvester and the O'Jays in Isaac Julien’s feature debut.
Beautiful SomethingBeautiful Something
Drama201593 minsDirector: Joseph Graham
In one desperate night, four disparate gay men cruise Philadelphia in pursuit of ever-elusive human connection.
More Black Star films in our Rentals collection.