A Look Back on Important Films For Black History Month

February is Black History Month — a time to celebrate the achievements of African Americans and to recognize their role in U.S. history. One way to do that is to look back on black history through the lens of a camera. That’s why we decided to highlight and celebrate some of the more important films in history that featured black artists and/or directors.

The Harder They Come (1972), Director Perry Henzell

The Harder They Come stars Jimmy Cliff as Ivan, a poor struggling musician in Kingston, Jamaica. After struggling to get his record played, Ivan gets into trouble with the local law and becomes a fugitive. As we watch his descent, we also see the increase in love for him and his music as he runs from the corrupt police force. Featuring wonderful performances and a brilliant soundtrack by Cliff himself, this film is not only important for the hard political stances it takes, but also for being the first film to be imported to America from Jamaica. It is a film that has both strong emotions and high entertainment.

Tales From the Hood (1995), Director Rusty Cundieff

Tales From the Hood is an anthology horror film specifically designed to explore injustices and hardships in the African American community. Although at times this film can be light-hearted and silly, it also deals with incredibly serious topics, like police brutality, domestic abuse, gang violence, racism, and political corruptness. Besides a perfectly silly performance from Clarence Williams, III, the film is mostly played straight and manages to be both poignant and disturbing.

Bamboozled (2000), Director Spike Lee

Spike Lee is a filmmaker who doesn’t shy away from showing the ugliness of humanity. He has tackled many serious subjects in his films over the years: attacking the KKK in BlackKklansman, showing the unflinching horrors of police brutality in Do the Right Thing, exploring the anxiety of a town haunted by a serial killer in Summer of Sam, and even tackling the life of Malcolm X. Despite this, Bamboozled may be Spike Lee at his most angry, unflinching, and critical. Bamboozled starts out comedically, but goes on to show how truly ugly racism can be. After becoming incredibly fed up with the way he’s being treated in his company, a TV executive, Pierre Delacroix (played by Damon Wayans), decides to put on a satirical minstrel show using blackface and stereotypes to criticize racisms. However, the studio he works for removes any satire from the program, making it into a truly racist program, and to his horror it becomes a hit. This film is disturbing, sad, but also incredibly beautiful. Be warned, it is a hard watch, but it’s a great one.

Sorry to Bother You (2018), Director Boots Riley

Sorry to Bother You is a bizarre, surreal, and hilarious film directed by musician Boots Riley. Lakeith Stanfield stars as Cassius Green, a young man with few ambitions who begins working at a call center as a telemarketer. As he continues working there he begins to find success, which propels him higher into the company, and deeper into the macabre universe of the wealthy. This film is weird, it’s hilarious, and also horrific. If you like surreal imagery, great music, and cutting satire, this may be a perfect film for you.