Historic figures

Films based on true events and individual black heroes.

Go to BFIplayer

Daughters Of The Dust

Julie Dash’s groundbreaking work follows a multi-generational family in the Gullah community on the Sea Islands off of South Carolina – former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors’ Yoruba traditions – as they struggle to maintain their cultural heritage and folklore.The first wide release by a black female filmmaker, Daughters of the Dust was met with wild critical acclaim and rapturous audience response when it initially opened in 1991. Casting a long legacy, Daughters of the Dust still resonates today, most recently as a major influence on Beyonce’s video album Lemonade. Restored for the first time, complete with the correct colour grading overseen by cinematographer Arthur Jafa, audiences will finally see the film exactly as Julie Dash intended.
Director: Julie Dash
Cast: Bahni Turpin, Barbara – O, Alva Rogers
US, 1991, 112min, 12

Go to Amazon

Selma

Selma tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic struggle to secure voting rights for African-Americans – a dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated in the epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama that galvanized American public opinion and persuaded President Johnson to introduce the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
Director: Ava DuVernay
Cast: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth
US, 2014, 128mins, 12A
Go to Amazon

Belle

Inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of Admiral Sir John Lindsay. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield and his wife, Belle’s lineage affords her certain privileges, yet her status prevents her from the traditions of noble social standing. While her cousin Elizabeth chases suitors for marriage, Belle is left on the sidelines wondering if she will ever find love. After meeting an idealistic young vicar’s son bent on changing society, he and Belle help shape Lord Mansfield’s role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in England.
Director: Amma Asante
Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Matthew Goode
UK, 2014, 104mins, PG
Go to YouTube

Green Book

When Tony Lip, a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx, is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley, a world-class Black pianist, on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South, they must rely on “The Green Book” to guide them to the few establishments that were then safe for African-Americans. Confronted with racism, danger-as well as unexpected humanity and humor-they are forced to set aside differences to survive and thrive on the journey of a lifetime.
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast:  Mahershala Ali, Viggo Mortensen,
US, 2018, 130mins, 12A
Go to Amazon

Loving

Loving celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving, who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry – and their love story has become an inspiration to couples ever since.
Director: Jeff Nichols
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga
US, 2017, 123, 12A

Go to Amazon

Hidden Figures

The incredible untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. A stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanised the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Directed By: Ted Melfi
Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe
US, 2017, 127, PG
Go to Amazon

The Help

The Help stars Aibileen, Skeeter and Minny-three, three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realisation that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed – even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone
US, 2011, 137, 12A