'The Photograph' Is The Soft Romance Film That Black People Deserve
There has been such a void in Black Romance dramas that we didn't realize how much we were craving one until The Photograph hit us in the face. Though we still cling to our favorites, such as 1997's Love Jones and 2000's Love & Basketball, Black romance on screen is nearly as old as cinema itself. The earliest surviving movie depicting Black intimacy is 1898's Something Good —...
'The Last Shift' Never Gets To The Root Of The Issue
The 2016 Presidential election revealed just how divided America can be. Many people across the country seemingly voted against their best interests for a presidential nominee whose policies would do more harm than good for the average working-class American. The election showcased, yet again, how many people will cling on to hatred, bigotry and racism because the privileges of...
'Farewell Amor' Is A Character Study On Loss, Reconnection And Second Chances
Cinema has a history of examining the breaking, ripping and pulling apart of families. What is almost never seen on screen is the rejoining and the reconnection of what was once broken, or the aftermath of what occurs when lives are forced back together. Ekwa Msangi's feature directorial debut Farewell Amor is a quiet, elegant film about a family torn apart by the Angolan Civil War only...
'Time' Shows The True Cost Of Our Broken Prison System
Time is precious. But it can also be haunting, especially when an outside force is holding the years, minutes and moments we use to clock our lives in the balance. For people who are incarcerated, the United States prison system is adamant about making sure time is something it owns. For over 20 years, Sibil Fox Richardson, aka Rich Fox, a businesswoman, and an advocate, has been...
'Sylvie's Love' Has The Immense Beauty Of An Old-Fashioned Romance
Black people have very few opportunities to see ourselves in sweeping romantic dramas like the films that used to dominate Old Hollywood. We've certainly had movies like Love Jones and Stella Meghie's forthcoming romantic drama, The Photograph. However, outside of Diana Ross' Mahogany and Lady Sings the Blues, films in the same romantic vein as Casablanca, An Affair to Remember and It...
