'My Name Is Pauli Murray' Review: A Knockout Doc Immortalizing A Truly Trailblazing Pioneer

Many Black Americans' contributions to this country have been erased, buried, or stamped out of the history books. Influential figures like Thurgood Marshall and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacies have outlived them, remain pillars — but they were not the only history makers. They often weren't even the first. Though their name is still not well known, Dr. Pauli Murray was an activist, lawyer, poet, and priest whose fight against racism and segregation in the 1930s and 1940s paved the way for the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s and 1960s. Moreover, Murray's term paper at Howard Law became a blueprint for 1955's Brown V. Board of Education, and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg credited Murray's work in the 1960s for her landmark 1971 Supreme Court win for woman's rights.

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R#J' Review: A Bold 'Romeo And Juliet' Social Media Reimagining Doesn't Quite Come Together

From Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet to 2000's Romeo Must Die, there are dozens of interpretations of William Shakespeare's 16th-century tragedy in cinema. From animated features to loosely based interpretations like West Side Story, the narrative of the star-crossed lovers from warring families is not unfamiliar. However, in his modern retelling, Carey Williams' R#J is unlike anything seen before in cinema.

When the film first opens, the camera pans to what appears to be a picturesque beach in Verona. However, the audience soon realizes that instead of landscape, this is the background of a cell phone screen. R#J then introduces Romeo (Camaron Engels), a seemingly happy-go-lucky young man with bright brown skin. Though we see glimpses of his face through his Instagram feed, his personality is unveiled through his DMs, Spotify playlists, and likes. His world expands when we finally see him on-screen, this time through a FaceTime video between himself and his best friends Benvolio (RJ Cyler) and Mercutio (Siddiq Saunderson).

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'Judas and the Black Messiah' Review: An Outstanding, Absorbing Narrative That Gets To The Heart Of Fred Hampton

For many of us, our introduction to Black Panther Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton began with his bullet-riddled body, a blood-soaked mattress, and a frigid winter night in Chicago. The then- 21-year-old revolutionary was a pillar in one of America's most segregated cities and in the fight for Black justice overall. In Shaka King's Judas and the Black Messiah, Hampton's (Daniel Kalyuua) brilliance, strength, and charisma are realized. While the film highlights the forces that eventually snuffed out his life, his legacy burns eternal. 

Set in 1968, Judas does not open with Hampton, but instead, with William O'Neil (LaKeith Stanfield), a low-level criminal who, after finding himself in the clutches of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), infiltrates the Panthers and weasels his way into Hampton's inner circle. Previous films and documentaries have shown snippets of the Illinois Black Panther Party during this violate time in the country's history. However, this film is perhaps the most complete portrait of who Hampton was as a man, a revolutionary, and an expectant father. 

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'Ailey' Gives Audiences A Glimpse Of the Renowned Choreographer Who Infused Memory Into Movement

When Ailey opens, the late Cicely Tyson comes into focus, standing glorious and regal on stage at the Kennedy Center for the Arts honoring the famed dancer and choreographer. Even then, at the tail end of his life, Alvin Ailey’s legacy both in the dance world and in the Black community was thunderous. 

Though he was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors just 30 years after founding the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, not much was known about the reclusive dancer and choreographer’s personal life or past. Using his own words, never-before-seen interviews, archival footage, and accounts from those closest to him like Robert Battle, Carmen de Lavallade, and Judith Jamison, filmmaker Jamila Wignot unveils a figure for whom dancing and movement was like air and water. 

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Questlove's 'Summer of Soul (… Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)' Unearths A Crowning Jewel In Black History

Amid our current civil rights movement and a tumultuous year that has brought forth a great deal of struggle and hardship, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson has given us a gift. With his directorial debut Summer of Soul (… Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), he has unearthed an aspect of Black history that won’t soon be forgotten. 

The year 1969 was pivotal for Black people. While much of the world was concerned with getting the first man on the moon, the Black community was focused inward, still reeling from a turbulent decade that stole the lives of Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., and countless others. It was the final year of a decade marked by chaos, violence, and determination. It was also the year we shed the word negro and became Black.

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Colorism Is Just The Tip Of The Iceberg In 'Passing'

What we know of race, not ethnicity or culture, but race in and of itself is that it’s a manmade construct. Yet, it has defined so much of our lives, journeys, and experiences — especially in America. Bringing Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing to the big screen, Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut is a visceral drama centering on race relations, colorism, jealously, anguish, and desire. 

Set in Harlem amid the renaissance of the 1920’s, Passing follows Irene (Tessa Thompson) and Clare (Rutha Negga), childhood friends who meet again by happenstance one blazing hot summer day in the posh tearoom of New York City’s Drayton Hotel. It should have been a warm reunion, filled with talks of girlhood and current undertakings. However, from the moment Clare catches Irene’s eye across the grandly decorated room, something sinister begins brewing between the two women. 

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Sundance's Black Stories Are More Accessible Than Ever

Each year, filmmakers, cinephiles, and the creme-de-la-creme of the entertainment industry make their way to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival to be the first to watch some of the most buzzed-about films of the year. 

People like Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, and Radha Blank have had career-defining moments at Sundance. This year, just like every other major cultural event, the largest independent film festival in the United States will look very different. Instead of gathering in theaters, coffee shops, and parties, Sundance attendees will be convening around their screens from the comfort and safety of their homes.

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