Films About Black Lives in America

The Right Thing

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

I realize I am hardly qualified to say anything on this topic, but it's what I know how to do. If Roger Ebert was right when he called movies an "empathy machine," then perhaps these recommended movies about Black Lives in America can help to open minds, or, for those with already open minds, to continue learning. Hatred and fear stem from ignorance, and understanding and compassion can begin with planted seeds, such as these...

I'll be updating this page from time to time as I discover new and/or notable films.

Akeelah and the Bee (2006, Doug Atchison)
Antwone Fisher (2002, Denzel Washington)
Baadasssss! (2004, Mario Van Peebles)
Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016, Malcolm D. Lee)
BlacKkKlansman (2018, Spike Lee)
Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler)
Blade II (2002, Guillermo Del Toro)
Candyman (2021, Nia DaCosta)
Chi-Raq (2015, Spike Lee)
Clemency (2019, Chinonye Chukwu)
Creed (2015, Ryan Coogler)
Da 5 Bloods (2020, Spike Lee)
Dear White People (2014, Justin Simien)
Detroit (2017, Kathryn Bigelow)
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995, Carl Franklin)
Dolemite Is My Name (2019, Craig Brewer)
Dope (2015, Rick Famuyiwa)
Do the Right Thing (1989, Spike Lee)
Earth Mama (2023, Savanah Leaf)
Eve's Bayou (1997, Kasi Lemmons)
Fences (2016, Denzel Washington)
Da 5 Bloods (2020, Spike Lee)
Emergency (2022, Carey Williams)
Friday (1995, F. Gary Gray)
42 (2013, Brian Helgeland)
4 Little Girls (1997, Spike Lee)
Fruitvale Station (2013, Ryan Coogler)
Get Out (2017, Jordan Peele)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018, RaMell Ross)
The Harder They Fall (2021, Jeymes Samuel)
Harriet (2019, Kasi Lemmons)
The Hate U Give (2018, George Tillman Jr.)
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (2022, Adamma Ebo)
Hoop Dreams (1994, Steve James)
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019, Xavier Burgin)
House Party (1990, Reginald Hudlin)
I Am Not Your Negro (2016, Raoul Peck)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018, Barry Jenkins)
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988, Keenen Ivory Wayans)
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020, David E. Talbert)
John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020, Dawn Porter)
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021, Shaka King)
Juice (1992, Ernest Dickerson)
Just Mercy (2019, Destin Daniel Cretton)
Killer of Sheep (1977, Charles Burnett)
Landscape with Invisible Hand (2023, Cory Finley)
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019, Joe Talbot)
Louis Armstrong's Black and Blues (2022, Sacha Jenkins)
Love & Basketball (2000, Gina Prince-Bythewood)
Lovers Rock (2020, Steve McQueen)
Loving (2016, Jeff Nichols)
Malcolm X (1992, Spike Lee)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020, George C. Wolfe)
Marshall (2017, Reginald Hudlin)
Miss Juneteenth (2020, Channing Godfrey Peoples)
Moonlight (2016, Barry Jenkins)
Mudbound (2017, Dee Rees)
O.J.: Made in America (2016, Ezra Edelman)
One Night in Miami (2020, Regina Hall)
Nanny (2022, Nikyatu Jusu)
Night Catches Us (2010, Tanya Hamilton)
Nope (2022, Jordan Peele)
The Original Kings of Comedy (2000, Spike Lee)
Pariah (2011, Dee Rees)
Passing (2021, Rebecca Hall)
The Princess and the Frog (2009, Ron Clements, John Musker)
School Daze (1988, Spike Lee)
Selah and the Spades (2020, Tayarisha Poe)
Selma (2014, Ava DuVernay)
Sorry to Bother You (2019, Boots Riley)
Soul (2020, Pete Docter, Kemp Powers)
Southside with You (2016, Richard Tanne)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman)
Straight Outta Compton (2015, F. Gary Gray)
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021, Questlove)
Talk to Me (2007, Kasi Lemmons)
Test Pattern (2021, Shatara Michelle Ford)
13th (2016, Ava DuVernay)
A Thousand and One (2023, A.V. Rockwell)
Tongues Untied (1989, Marlon Riggs)
Top Five (2014, Chris Rock)
To Sleep with Anger (1990, Charles Burnett)
Us (2019, Jordan Peele)
Waves (2019, Trey Edward Shults)
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015, Liz Garbus)
What's Love Got to Do with It (1993, Brian Gibson)
The Wood (1999, Rick Famuyiwa)