Black Films Matter!

With all the talk this year about lily-white Hollywood, Anthology Film Archives is finishing up their American International Festival with eight Blaxpoitation Films that really go back to black. Now whether you feel that these films from the Seventies celebrate Black Power or stereotype and fetishize it, these films are amazing time capsules of a culture that was struggling with racial issues through its entertainments.

Made on the cheap and full of sex, violence, and outlandish fashions these films were created specifically for a black audience. Some of the first films of this genre were made by black directors like Melvin Van Peebles (whose film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) you can see at BAM next Wednesday 3/16)  and Gordon Parks who worked within the white film system to provide new cinematic images of Black Culture.

But once those films showed they could make money, Hollywood caught-on and started making Blaxpoitation films as well- with white directors. So the genre can lurch from strong images of black men and women subverting the sytem to chicks pulling each others' afros with their hoo-has out.

Either way, the films are a fun watch and start Friday 3/11. I would recommend catching the deep-voiced William Marshall in Blacula (1972) and the always entertaining Pam Grier in Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974).

For a really great documentary on Blaxpoitation films, check out Baadasssss Cinema (2002).

Catch you on the flipside!