African American Film Directors
JMU Libraries has many films by African American directors. This guide lists prominent directors and some of their works, along with links for more information.
Orlando Bagwell
Documentary filmmaker.
"In the past twenty years, Bagwell has executive produced two series, and produced and directed thirteen documentaries for PBS that trace the lived experience of African-American history and explore the shifting but persistent realities of racism in America."
--Abrash, Barbara. (2004) "Matters of race: an interview with Orlando Bagwell." Cineaste. 30:1 34.
Among his many films are Roots of Resistance: A Story of the Underground Railroad (1990), Malcolm X: Make it Plain (1995), The Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery (1998), the PBS series Matters of Race (2003) and Citizen King (2003).
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JMU Media Resources Videotape no.4054
New Worlds, New Forms (1993)
JMU Media Resources Videotape no.3235
JMU Music Library VC 223 no.5
Roots of Resistance: a Story of the Underground Railroad (1990)
VIVA Streaming Video Collection (JMU/VIVA users)
JMU Media Resources Videotape no.1982
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1986) (Producer)
- Ain't Scared of Your Jails, 1960-1961
- Mississippi: Is this America?, 1962-1964
JMU Media Resources Videotape no.7596 & 7598
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More about Orlando Bagwell
Thomas Carter (1954- )
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Directed pilots for successful television series, including "St. Elsewhere" and "Miami Vice." Won an Emmy in 1990 for directing the television show "Equal Justice." Swing Kids was his first feature film.
Swing Kids (1993)
JMU Media Resources DVD 2006
More about Thomas Carter
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Julie Dash (1952- )
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Directed Daughters of the Dust, the "first first commercial feature-length film produced by a black woman."
Daughters of the Dust (1991)
JMU Media Resources DVD 977
Shooting Script (online)
Illusions (1982)
JMU Media Resources Videotape 3361
Shooting Script (online)
More about Julie Dash
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Carl Franklin (1949- )
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Television actor; television and film director. Famous films include One False Move (1992), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), One True Thing (1998), and High Crimes (2002).
One True Thing (1998)
JMU Media Resources DVD 798
One False Move (1991)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1703
More about Carl Franklin
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Allen Hughes (1972- ) and Albert Hughes (1972- )
Twin brother team that began in music videos and went on to feature films. Films include Menace II Society (1993), Dead Presidents (1995), American Pimp (1999), and From Hell (2001).
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From Hell (2001)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1758
Dead Presidents (1995)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1818
Menace II Society (1993)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1732
More about the Hughes Brothers
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Stan Lathan
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Lathan's television directing career goes back to 1969 with "Sesame Street." He has a long list of directing credits, including "Sanford and Son" (1972), "Barney Miller" (1975), "Eight is Enough" (1977), "Hill Street Blues" (1981), "Fame" (1982), "Roc" (1991), and "Moesha" (1996).
Sky is Gray (1980)
JMU Media Resources Videotape no.1938
More about Stan Lathan
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Spike Lee (1957- )
"'Fight the power,' the theme song to his 1989 film Do the Right Thing, could easily be Spike Lee's personal motto. From his earliest days as a student filmmaker to his $33-million epic Malcolm X, Lee demonstrated a willingness to tackle prickly issues of relevance to the black community, while savoring every ounce of controversy his films invariably produce."
-- American Decades. Gale Research, 1998.
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When the Levees Broke (2006)
JMU Media Resources DVD 2740-2742
25th Hour (2003)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1735
A Huey P. Newton Story (2001)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1819
Bamboozled (2000) JMU Media Resources DVD 1371
The Original Kings of Comedy
JMU Media Resources DVD 459
Summer of Sam (1999)
JMU Media Resources DVD 141
He Got Game (1998)
JMU Media Resources DVD 203
4 Little Girls (1997) JMU Media Resources DVD 407
Girl 6 (1996)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1815
Clockers (1995)
JMU Media Resources DVD 144
Crooklyn (1994) JMU Media Resources DVD 150
Malcolm X (1992) JMU Media Resources DVD 1737-1738
Jungle Fever (1991)
JMU Media Resources DVD 193
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
JMU Media Resources DVD 413
Do the Right Thing (1989)
JMU Media Resources DVD 180
School Daze (1988)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1759
More about Spike Lee
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Kasi Lemmons (1961- )
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"With the release of Eve's Bayou in late 1997, Kasi Lemmons emerged as one of the American film industry's most talked about young filmmakers."
--Contemporary Black Biography, Gale Group, 1998.
Eve's Bayou (1997)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1261
More about Kasi Lemmons
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Stanley Nelson (1955- )
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Documentary filmmaker and winner of a 2002 MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a "genius" award.
The Murder of Emmett Till (2003)
VIVA Streaming Video Collection (JMU/VIVA users)
Marcus Garvey: Look for me in the Whirlwind (2001)
JMU Media Resources Videotape no.7141
VIVA Streaming Video Collection (JMU/VIVA users)
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (1998)
JMU Media Resources Videotape no. 5971
Shattering the Silences (1997)
JMU Media Resources Videotape no. 5282
More about Stanley Nelson
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Gordon Parks (1912-2006)
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Writer, photojournalist, director, composer.
"Gordon Parks's 'life constitutes an American success story of almost mythic proportions,' Andy Grundberg once commented in New York Times. "
-- Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006.
Solomon Northrup's odyssey (1996)
JMU Media Resources Videotape no. 4886
Shaft (1971)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1761
More about Gordon Parks
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Gordon Parks, Jr. (1934-1979)
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Son of the more famous Gordon Parks who directed Shaft, Parks, Jr., made four films from 1972 to 1975. In 1979, he died in a plane crash in Kenya.
Superfly (1972)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1820
More about Gordon Parks, Jr.
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Michael Schultz (1938- )
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Film, theatre, and television director. Film work includes Cooley High (1975), Car Wash (1976), Which Way is Up? (1977), Greased Lightning (1977), and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978). Recent work includes films as well as television series such as "Charmed," "JAG," "Boston Public," and "City of Angels."
Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1760
The Last Dragon (1985)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1702
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
JMU Music Library MDVD 139
More about Michael Schultz
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John Singleton (1968- )
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Film screenwriter, producer and director. His works include Boyz 'n the Hood (1991), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award, Poetic Justice (1993), Higher Learning (1994), Rosewood (1997), Shaft (2000), Baby Boy (2001), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), and Four Brothers (2005).
Four Brothers (2005)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1731
Baby Boy (2001)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1704
Shaft (2000)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1259
Rosewood (1997)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1287
Boyz 'n the Hood (1991)
JMU Media Resources Videodisc no.109
More about John Singleton
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Melvin Van Peebles (1932- )
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Writer, actor, producer, director, composer.
"...Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, is probably his best known work to date. He made the film in three weeks, using nonunion crews while keeping union officials disinterested by spreading rumors that he was making a pornographic film..."
-- Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006.
Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song (1971)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1757
Shooting Script (Online)
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: a Guerilla Filmmaking Manifesto
JMU Carrier Library Stacks PN1997.S9 V3 2004
More about Melvin Van Peebles
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Related Books and Videos
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Afro Promo: Black Cinema Trailers 1946-1976
(2006)
JMU Media Resources
DVD 2696
BaadAssss Cinema: a Bold Look at 70's Blaxploitation Films (2002)
JMU Media Resources DVD 1445
Black City Cinema: African American Urban Experiences in Film (2003)
JMU Carrier Library Stacks PN1995.9.N4 M33 2003
Black Directors in Hollywood (2003)
JMU Carrier Library Stacks PN1995.9.N4 D66 2003
Black Lenses, Black Voices: African American Film Now (2005)
JMU Carrier Library Stacks PN1995.9.N4 R43 2005
Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema (2007)
JMU Carrier Library Reference
PN1995.9.N4 B433 2007
Screens Fade to Black: Contemporary African American Cinema
JMU Carrier Library Stacks PN1995.9.N4 L46 2006
Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks: an Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films (2004)
JMU Carrier Library Stacks PN1995.9.N4 B6 2004
Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk about the Magic of Cinema (2003)
JMU Carrier Library Stacks PN1995.9.N4 A43 2003
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More about African American Film Directors
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This page is maintained by: Jennifer Keach. Suggestions and corrections are welcome.
Additional guides about film can be found on the Media Arts & Design Research Guide.
Last reviewed:
July 17, 2007
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