Black History Month, International Edition
Today is the final day of Black History Month, an American-conceived celebration of Black heritage, achievement, and tenacity that’s since been adopted in numerous other countries. To see the month out, this week’s Spotlight features historical dramas, biopics, and documentaries that pay tribute to the stories of Black people around the world.
Small Axe
An anthology series consisting of five films telling stories from the lives of West Indian immigrants in London from the 1960s to 1980s.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2020
- Creator Steve McQueen
- Cast
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
A young Malawian genius uses invention and ambition to save his family and village from famine.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2019
- Director Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Cast Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aïssa Maïga, Lily Banda, Joseph Marcell, Lemogang Tsipa
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Fig Tree
(עץ תאנה)
A Jewish teenager tries to keep her Christian boyfriend from conscription in the Ethiopian War as her family prepares to flee.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel, France, Ethiopia • 2018
- Director Alamork Davidian
- Cast Betalehem Asmamawe, Rodas Gizaw, Weyenshiet Belachew, Yohannes Musa, Mitiku Haylu
- Genre Drama
- Available on Chai Flicks, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Kanopy
I Am Not Your Negro
A study of race in America then and now, inspired by James Baldwin's unpublished writings.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Switzerland, France, Belgium • 2017
- Director Raoul Peck
- Cast Samuel L. Jackson, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Ray Charles
- Genre Documentary, History
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, FlixFling, Kanopy, Hoopla
A United Kingdom
A love story that shook an empire.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czech Republic, United Kingdom, United States • 2016
- Director Amma Asante
- Cast David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Tom Felton, Jack Davenport, Terry Pheto, Laura Carmichael
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Olympic Pride, American Prejudice
An illuminating documentary about the 18 African Americans who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, United States • 2016
- Director Deborah Riley Draper
- Cast Blair Underwood
- Genre Documentary, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Freevee, Hoopla
The African Doctor
(Bienvenue À Marly-Gomont)
A Congolese doctor and his family struggle to help the xenophobic citizens of a rural French village.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2016
- Director Julien Rambaldi
- Cast Marc Zinga, Aïssa Maïga, Jonathan Lambert, Rufus, Bayron Lebli, Médina Diarra
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Concerning Violence
(Om våld)
Based on newly discovered archival material, this film portrays the most daring moments in the struggle for liberation in the Third World.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, Finland, Denmark • 2014
- Director Göran Olsson
- Cast Lauryn Hill
- Genre Documentary, History
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Selma
The inspiring story of the epic march at Selma, where, battered and bruised, protestors battled together for black suffrage, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States, France • 2014
- Director Ava DuVernay
- Cast David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth, Oprah Winfrey, Giovanni Ribisi
- Genre History, Drama
- Available on Netflix, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel, Netflix basic with Ads, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Pluto TV
Timbuktu
The peaceful lives of a Timbuktu cattle herder and his family are abruptly upended by the arrival of militant Islamic rebels.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mauritania, France • 2014
- Director Abderrahmane Sissako
- Cast Ibrahim Ahmed, Toulou Kiki, Layla Walet Mohamed, Abel Jafri, Kettly Noel, Hichem Yacoubi
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
Belle
A unique period piece about Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed race daughter of a British aristocrat raised in high society.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2013
- Director Amma Asante
- Cast Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson, Sam Reid, Emily Watson, Sarah Gadon, Miranda Richardson
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
An examination of the evolution of the Black Power Movement in American society from 1967 to 1975.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, United States • 2011
- Director Göran Olsson
- Cast Abiodun Oyewole, Talib Kweli, Angela Davis, Harry Belafonte, Stokely Carmichael, Erykah Badu
- Genre Documentary
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Sometimes in April
A Hutu man's story of family and processing the trauma of the Rwandan genocide.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Rwanda, United States • 2005
- Director Raoul Peck
- Cast Idris Elba, Carole Karemera, Pamela Nomvete, Oris Erhuero, Fraser James, Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga
- Genre Drama, History, TV Movie, War, War & Politics
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony
An exploration of the role that music played in the eradication of apartheid.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- South Africa, United States • 2002
- Director Lee Hirsch
- Cast Walter Cronkite, F.W. de Klerk, Abdullah Ibrahim, Jesse Jackson, Duma Ka Ndlovu, Ronnie Kasrils
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Yeelen
A young man with magical powers journeys to his uncle to request help in fighting his sorcerer father.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mali, Burkina Faso, France • 1987
- Director Souleymane Cissé
- Cast Issiaka Kane, Balla Moussa Keita, Aoua Sangare, Ismaila Sarr, Niamanto Sanogo
- Genre Adventure, Drama, History
- Available on Kanopy
Black Girl
(La Noire de...)
Senegalese woman goes to work for a family in France, only to be blindsided by her new employers' racism and brutality.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Senegal, France • 1966
- Director Ousmane Sembène
- Cast Mbissine Thérèse Diop, Anne-Marie Jelinek, Robert Fontaine, Momar Nar Sene, Toto Bissainthe, Sophie Leclerc
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Plex, Plex Channel