Black Film Archive
by Ziad Shihab/
September 13th, 2021
Black Film Archive
BLACK FILM ARCHIVE
Black Film Archive is a living register of Black films. In its current iteration, it showcases Black films made from 1915 to 1979 currently streaming.
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ABOUT BLACK FILM ARCHIVE
Black Film Archive celebrates the rich, abundant history of Black cinema. We are an evolving archive dedicated to making historically and culturally significant films made from 1915 to 1979 about Black people accessible through a streaming guide with cultural context.
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LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER
Announcing Black Film Archive
Maya S. Cade | August 26, 2021
For the past year, I’ve spent most of my time pondering one question: What does it mean to make Black film history accessible? Today, I’m proud to launch Black Film Archive, an evolving project that serves as my current response to this expansive question. In its first iteration, Black Film Archive lists every* Black film made between 1915 and 1979 that is currently streaming with every description written by yours truly. This free platform and open resource has been created with you all in mind. There are over 250 films for you to discover… right now!
Black Film Archive celebrates the rich, abundant history of Black cinema. We are an evolving archive dedicated to making historically and culturally significant films about Black people accessible through a streaming guide with cultural context.
The films collected on Black Film Archive have something significant to say about the Black experience; speak to Black audiences; and/or have a Black star, writer, producer, or director. This criterion for selection is as broad and inclusive as possible, allowing the site to cover the widest range of what a Black film can be.
The films listed here should be considered in conversation with each other, as visions of Black being on film across time. They express what only film can: social, anthropological, and aesthetic looks at the changing face of Black expression (or white attitudes about Black expression, which are inescapable given the whiteness of decision-makers in the film industry). ︎
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The films listed here should be considered in conversation with each other, as visions of Black being on film across time. They express what only film can: social, anthropological, and aesthetic looks at the changing face of Black expression (or white attitudes about Black expression, which are inescapable given the whiteness of decision-makers in the film industry). ︎
Read More ︎︎︎
Sign Up for the Newsletter ︎︎︎
HOW IT STARTED
In June 2020, Maya Cade created a Twitter thread attempting to list every Black film released between 1910 and 1959, available to stream. The goal was to answer the question "What does it mean to make Black film knowledge accessible?"
Black Film Archive, expanded here to include films until 1979, is her current response to that evolving question.