Films that have Historical Background
or Sociological Information & Insights

Date Released	Name of Movie	Short Description
1915	Birth of a Nation	A silent movie, very popular at the time, now seen to be a sign of the racist times, shows the story of two families during and after the Civil War and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
1961	Raisin in the Sun	Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee star in the film adaptation of Lorrain Hansberry’s award-winning play about a 1950’s African-American family in Chicago.
1967	Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?	Sidney Poitier as the fiancé of a white woman, whose liberal parents are faced with their own hidden racism.
1972	Lady Sings the Blues	Diana Ross stars as Billie Holiday.
1979	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings	The early life of poet Maya Angelou, who goes from victim of racism and sexual abuse to independence and dignity.
1983	Boesman and Lena	Shows the effect of Apartheid on two Black people.
1984	A Soldier’s Story	Based on Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a Black officer investigating the murder of a Black Sargeant in Louisiana near the end of World War II.
1987	Eyes on the Prize	14-hour documentary about American Civil Rights Movement.
1988	Mississippi Burning	FBI investigation of the Ku Klux Klan in the murder of three civil rights workers in 1966.
1989	Glory	Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman star in the story about an African-American regiment in the Civil War.
1990	The Long Walk Home	Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek as women involved in the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.
1992	Sarafina!	Whoopi Goldberg stars in a musical about the South African Soweto riots.
1992	Malcolm X	Spike Lee directs Denzel Washington as Malcolm X.
1993	What’s Love Got to Do With It?	Angela Bassett stars as Tina Turner in the story of her life, which was filled with poverty, spousal abuse and, ultimately, strength and success.
1995	Panther	Story of the Black Panthers. Stars Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz.
1996	Get On the Bus	Spike Lee directed this movie about men going to the Million Man March in 1995.
1996	Once Upon a Time…When We Were Colored	Based on Clifton Taulbert’s memoir about growing up in the 1950s in Mississippi.
1997	4 Little Girls	Documentary about 1967 church bombing that led to deaths of four girls. Directed by Spike Lee.
1997	Eve’s Bayou (more adult)	About the youngest daughter in an African-American family in Lousiana.
1998	Ruby Bridges	About first Black students to integrate New Orleans schools in 1960.
1998	Beloved	Based on Toni Morrison’s award-winning book. Oprah Winfrey plays a former slave in Cincinnati after the Civil War.
1999	Selma Lord Selma	Told through the eyes of an 11-year-old African American girl, this is the story of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Selma fight for voting rights.
1999	Introducing Dorothy Dandridge	Halle Berry stars as Dorothy Dandridge.
2000	Bamboozled (slightly mature)	Spike Lee’s satirical look at a modern day minstrel show stars Damon Wynans and Jada Pinkett Smith.
2001	Boycott	Jeffrey Wright stars at Dr. Martin Luther King in the story of the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.
2002	The Rosa Parks Story	Angela Bassett stars as Rosa Parks.
2002	A Huey P. Newton Story	Spike Lee directs the life of the famous activist.
2003	Resurrection: Tupac Shakur	Documentary about the life and music of Tupac Shakur that leaves a message of hopefulness.
2003	Sisters in Cinema	Documentary about African-American women film-makers.
2006	Dream Girls	Based on the Broadway hit, this is the fictional story of a Supremes-like group and a Barry Gordy firure, who help bring African-American singers into mainstream culture.
2007	The Great Debaters	About the all-black Wiley college debate team. Directed by Denzel Washington; produced by Oprah Winfrey.
2009	Good Hair	A documentary by Chris Rock about African-American women and their hair.
2009	February One	The Story of the Greensboro Four. Four African-American college students in Greensboro, NC began a sit-in at the whites-only Woolworth lunch counter, unknowingly starting a national movement. Within a few days, students were sitting-in in 54 cities in the South.
2010	For Colored Girls (more adult themes)	Based on Notzake Shange’s award-winning stage play abou the lives of nine African-American women and the struggles in their lives.
2011	Freedom Riders	American Experience Documentary about the 1961 Freedom Riders who were trying to integrate Greyhound Bus Terminals in the South.
2013	The Butler	The Butler tells the story of a White House butler who served eight American presidents over three decades. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man’s life and family.
2013	42	42 – The Story of Jackie Robinson – an American biographical sports film about the racial integration of American professional baseball by player Jackie Robinson, who wore jersey number 42 through his Major League career.
2013	12 Years a Slave	12 Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity.
2017	Hidden Figures	Hidden Figures tells the story of Katherine Jonson Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA who served as the brains behind the launch into orbit of astronaut John Glenn, a stunning achievement that turned around the Space Race.
2018	Black Panther	Black Panther – American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It’s the first Marvel film with a predominantly black cast, and celebrates black culture on several fronts.