To celebrate Black History Month, this October sees IFI@Home feature a selection of work by some of the key black filmmakers throughout the history of the medium.
Taken in chronological order, the season begins with a rare opportunity to see films by Oscar Micheaux, lauded as the first African American filmmaker, whose eye-opening depictions of the experience of black people even in the supposedly more tolerant northern states of America in the early decades of the twentieth century make for fascinating viewing.
As the century progressed and black filmmakers began to be afforded real opportunities to tell stories that truly represented their communities, filmmakers such as Menelik Shabazz and Isaac Julien in the U.K. and Spike Lee in the U.S.A. came forward. African cinema, which unfortunately continues to be under-represented in programming, came to be recognised on the world stage, with filmmakers such as Ousmane Sembène and Idrissa Ouédraogo feted at international festivals. African American culture continues to prove fertile ground for exploration, whether in biopics of icons such as Billie Holiday, or the role and voice of women in films such as Just Another Girl On The I.R.T. and Miss Juneteenth.
In attempting to gather as many of these different perspectives as possible in this small selection, we hope that viewers will find much to enjoy, and a starting point for their own further exploration of the work of black filmmakers.
