Subscription
Black Star
Our subscription selection celebrating black stardom, focusing on British talents and pioneering performers.
Begin a mesmerising journey through groundbreaking and prize-winning cinema.

Pretty Red DressPretty Red Dress
Drama2022110 minsDirector: Dionne Edwards
One dress changes everything for a family in Dionne Edwards’ brilliant debut. Defiant, uplifting and with music at its core.

Rebel DreadRebel Dread
Biopic202183 minsDirector: William E. Badgley
This is the story of the iconic Don Letts, the coolest cultural polymath – narrated by the man himself.

Daughters of the DustDaughters of the Dust
Drama1991112 minsDirector: Julie Dash
Julie Dash’s groundbreaking Daughters of the Dust remains urgent and poetic and continues to resonate, inspiring Beyoncé’s iconic visual album Lemonade.

Neptune FrostNeptune Frost
Musical2021105 minsDirector: Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman
The directorial debut of poet-musician Saul Williams and actor-playwright Anisia Uzeyman is an exhilarating anti-capitalist sci-fi musical entirely shot in Rwanda.

Black JoyBlack Joy
Comedy197799 minsDirector: Anthony Simmons
Ben, an innocent immigrant from a remote village in Guyana, arrives in Brixton and falls prey to an assortment of streetwise characters in Anthony Simmons' Palme d’Or nominated comic drama.

RafikiRafiki
Drama201883 minsDirector: Wanuri Kahiu
Romantic sparks fly between the daughters of two opposing politicians in Wanuri Kahiu’s neon-bright story of forbidden love in Kenya.

The Passion of RemembranceThe Passion of Remembrance
Animation & Artists Moving Image198683 minsDirector: Maureen Blackwood and Isaac Julien
In this London-set drama, the Baptiste family are caught in intergenerational debates reflecting Black viewpoints on life in Britain.

Casablanca BeatsCasablanca Beats
Drama2021102 minsDirector: Nabil Ayouch
Palme d'Or nominated film about a former rapper who takes a teaching job at a cultural centre in a working-class neighbourhood in Casablanca.

Queen of GloryQueen of Glory
Comedy202179 minsDirector: Nana Mensah
In Nana Mensah’s self-assured and charming comedy, a Ghanaian-American woman’s life is thrown into disarray when she inherits her mother’s Christian bookshop.

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.

Mystery RoadMystery Road
Crime2013121 minsDirector: Ivan Sen
An Aboriginal cop returns to his hometown to solve the brutal murder of a teenage girl, uncovering a web of corruption and a growing body count, in Ivan Sen's acclaimed Australian riff on the Western genre.

Gone Too Far!Gone Too Far!
Comedy201488 minsDirector: Destiny Ekaragha
Riotous urban comedy adapted from the hit Royal Court play, about a Peckham teen affronted by the arrival of his long-lost Nigerian sibling.

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.

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.

GoldstoneGoldstone
Thriller2016110 minsDirector: Ivan Sen
Ivan Sen follows his acclaimed Australian thriller Mystery Road with another distinctive, 'outback noir', with troubled indigenous detective Joe Swan (Aaron Pedersen) again on the trail of murder and corruption.

The WoundThe Wound
Drama201788 minsDirector: John Trengove
A traditional rite of passage ritual forms the backdrop for this tough and complex tale of closeted sexuality in South Africa.

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 as gangs, drugs and sexuality come between them.

TimbuktuTimbuktu
Drama201496 minsDirector: Abderrahmane Sissako
Living in the sand dunes just outside the city of Timbuktu, a cattle herder and his wife find their peaceful existence disturbed by forces attempting to dictate their lifestyle.

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.
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.

Black OrpheusBlack Orpheus
Romance1959107 minsDirector: Marcel Camus
Academy Award and Palme d'Or-winning adaption of the Orpheus myth, incorporating the music, costume and dance of Brazil’s Rio Festival.

The Story of Lover's RockThe Story of Lover's Rock
Documentary2011100 minsDirector: Menelik Shabazz
Menelik Shabazz (Burning an Illusion) shines a light on the music genre often dubbed ‘romantic reggae’; a uniquely black British sound that developed in the late 70s and 80s against a backdrop of riots, racial tension and sound systems.

Burning an IllusionBurning an Illusion
Drama1982102 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
Drama1978121 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.

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.

RealReal
Romance202078 minsDirector: Aki Omoshaybi
Aki Omoshaybi’s deeply felt debut explores the love between two people who bend the truth to disguise their personal struggles.

More Black Star films in our Rentals collection.