And Still I Rise
A film by Ngozi Onwurah, 1993, 30 min., Color
Inspired by a poem by Maya Angelou, this powerful film explores images of Black women in the media, focusing on the myths surrounding Black women's se...

As I Remember It
A film by Salem Mekuria, 1991, 56 min., Color
This intimate portrait of writer Dorothy West explores the forgotten role of women in the Harlem Renaissance. From the perspective of her 83 years, th...

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
A film by LisaGay Hamilton, Produced by Neda Armian, Jonathan Demme, LisaGay Hamilton, and Joe Viola, 2003, 90 min., Color/BW
BEAH: A BLACK WOMAN SPEAKS, the directorial debut of actress LisaGay Hamilton, celebrates the life of legendary African American actress, poet and pol...

Black Women On: The Light, Dark Thang
A film by Celeste Crenshaw and Paula Caffey, 1999, 52 min., Color
BLACK WOMEN ON: THE LIGHT, DARK THANG explores the politics of color within the African-American community. Women representing a variety of hues--fro...

Black, Bold and Beautiful: Black Women's Hair
Directed by Nadine Valcin and Produced by Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny, 1999, 40 min., Color
Afros, braids or corn rows--hairstyles have always carried a social message, and few issues cause as many battles between black parents and their daug...

The Body of a Poet
A film by Sonali Fernando, 1995, 29 min., Color
An imaginary biopic, THE BODY OF A POET centers on the efforts of a group of young lesbians of color to devise a fitting tribute to one of this centu...

...But Then, She's Betty Carter
A film by Michelle Parkerson, 1980, 53 min., Color
This lively film is an unforgettable portrait of legendary vocalist Betty Carter, one of the greatest living exponents of jazz. Uncompromised by comme...

Chisholm '72 - Unbought and Unbossed
A film by Shola Lynch, 2004, 77 min., Color
Recalling a watershed event in US politics, this compelling documentary takes an in-depth look at the 1972 presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, ...

The Cinematic Jazz of Julie Dash
A film by Yvonne Welbon, 1992, 27 min., Color
From her innovative short works to her critically acclaimed feature debut DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST, the films of Julie Dash have broken new cinematic gro...

Compensation
A film by Zeinabu irene Davis, 1999, 92 min., BW
COMPENSATION the first feature by award-winning filmmaker Zeinabu irene Davis (CYCLES and A POWERFUL THANG), presents two unique African-American lov...

Conjure Women
A film by Demetria Royals
Produced by Louise Diamond, 1995, 85 min., Color/BW
CONJURE WOMEN is an exciting performance-based documentary exploring the artistry and philosophy of four African American female artists. Celebrated ...

Cycles
A film by Zeinabu irene Davis, 1989, 17 min., BW
Rasheeda Allen is waiting for her period, a state of anticipation familiar to all women. Drawing on Caribbean folklore, this exuberant experimental dr...

DiAna's Hair Ego: AIDS Info Up Front
A film by Ellen Spiro, 1990, 29 min., Color
Realizing the extreme inadequacy of local information on AIDS prevention, cosmetologist DiAna DiAna, with her partner Dr. Bambi Sumpter, took on the t...

A Different Image
A film by Alile Sharon Larkin, 1982, 52 min., Color
A highly-acclaimed film, A DIFFERENT IMAGE is an extraordinary poetic portrait of a beautiful young African American woman attempting to escape becomi...

The Edge of Each Other's Battles
A film by Jennifer Abod, 2002, 59 min., Color
This powerful documentary is a moving tribute to legendary black lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde (1934-1992). One of the most celebrated icons of f...

Emergence
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1986, 18 min., Color
Common themes of identity, alienation and herstory in the context of the diasporan experience emerge in this powerful tape. Four Black and Third World...

Far From Home
A film by Rachel Tsutsumi, 2005, 40 min., Color
While busing may be a rapidly fading memory in most American schools, it continues to be a reality for more than 3,000 Boston students every year. FAR...

Gotta Make This Journey
Produced by Michelle Parkerson
Directed by Joseph Camp, 1983, 58 min., Color
This vibrant and engaging video profiles the a capella activist group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Singing to end the oppression of Black people world wi...

Hair Piece
A film by Ayoka Chenzira, 1985, 10 min., Color
An animated satire on the question of self image for African American women living in a society where beautiful hair is viewed as hair that blows in t...

Illusions
A film by Julie Dash, 1983, 34 min., BW
The time is 1942, a year after Pearl Harbor; the place is National Studios, a fictitious Hollywood motion picture studio. Mignon Duprée, a Black woman...

Killing Time/Fannie's Film
Two films by Fronza Woods, 1979, 15 min., BW
Part of the mediamaking movement that first gave centrality to the voices and experiences of African American women during the late Seventies and earl...

Lip
A film collaboration between Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg, 1999, 10 min., Color
It is Hollywood’s favorite role for black women: the maid. Sassy or sweet, snickeringly attentive or flippantly dismissive, the performers who play t...

Lockin’ Up
A film by T. Nicole Atkinson, 1997, 29 min., Color
When Jamaican-born filmmaker T. Nicole Atkinson threw away her comb to let her hair coil into dreadlocks, she was forced to challenge both society’s a...

Love & Diane
A film by Jennifer Dworkin, 2002, 155 min., Color
Jennifer Dworkin’s groundbreaking documentary LOVE & DIANE presents a searingly honest and moving examination of poverty, welfare and drug rehabilitat...

Mary Lou Williams
A film by Joanne Burke, 1990, 60 min., Color
Pioneering Black American composer-arranger-pianist Mary Lou Williams is one of the most remarkable figures in the history of jazz. In this authorit...

A Minor Altercation
A film by Jackie Shearer, 1977, 30 min.
A fight between an African American and a white schoolgirl in Boston is explored in all its complexity in this fact-based drama from one of the produc...

Mother of the River
A film by Zeinabu irene Davis, 1995, 28 min., BW
In this poignant story set in the 1850s, a young slave girl befriends a magical woman in the woods called Mother of the River. Through their friendsh...

Mountains that Take Wing: Angela Davis & Yuri Kochiyama
A film by C.A. Griffith & H.L.T. Quan, 2009, 97 min., Color
Thirteen years, two radical activist all-stars-one conversation. Internationally renowned scholar, professor and writer Angela Davis and 89-year-old ...

The Noble Struggle of Amina Wadud
A film by Elli Safari, 2007, 29 min., Color
On March 18, 2005, Amina Wadud shocked the Islamic world by leading a mixed-gender Friday prayer congregation in New York. THE NOBLE STRUGGLE OF AMINA...

Nobody Knows My Name
A film by Rachel Raimist, 1999, 58 min., Color
NOBODY KNOWS MY NAME tells the story of women who are connected by their love for hip-hop music. Despite the fact that these talented female artists ...

On Becoming a Woman
Directed by Cheryl Chisholm, 1987, 90 min., Color
This extraordinary documentary provides rare insights into some important health issues for African American women. Although it was produced before A...

Perfect Image?
A film by Maureen Blackwood, 1988, 30 min., Color
Bright and imaginative in its approach to its subject, PERFECT IMAGE? exposes stereotypical images of Black women and explores women's own ideas of se...

Picking Tribes
A film by S. Pearl Sharp (formerly Saundra Sharp), 1988, 7 min., Color
“In a heartfelt, and often hilarious, attempt to be more than ‘ordinary,’ a girl growing up in the 1940s tries to choose between her African-American ...

A Place of Rage
A film by Pratibha Parmar, 1991, 52 min., Color
This exuberant celebration of African American women and their achievements features interviews with Angela Davis, June Jordan and Alice Walker. Withi...

A Powerful Thang
A film by Zeinabu irene Davis, 1991, 57 min., Color
This innovative drama, set in Ohio, traces an African American couple's search for intimacy and friendship. The spirited, African-identified Yasmine A...

Praise House
A film by Julie Dash, 1991, 25 min., Color
PRAISE HOUSE combines elements of theater, dance and music based on the rhythms and rituals of Africa. Julie Dash, director of DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST,...

Remembering Thelma
A film by Kathe Sandler, 1981, 15 min.
A lively profile of dance instructor and performer Thelma Hill containing rare footage of original Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the New York Negro Ba...

Remembering Wei Yi-fang, Remembering Myself
A film by Yvonne Welbon, 1995, 29 min., Color
REMEMBERING WEI YI-FANG, REMEMEBERING MYSELF: An Autobiography charts the influence of the filmmaker’s six-year experience as an African American woma...

Say My Name
A film by Nirit Peled, 2009, 73 min., Color
In a hip hop and R&B world dominated by men and noted for misogyny, the unstoppable female lyricists of SAY MY NAME speak candidly about class, race, ...

Sisters of the Screen
A film by Beti Ellerson, 2002, 73 min., Color
Exploring the extraordinary contributions of women filmmakers from Africa and the diaspora, Beti Ellerson’s engaging debut intersperses interviews wit...

Standing on My Sisters' Shoulders
A film by Joan Sadoff, Dr. Robert Sadoff and Laura J. Lipson, 2002, 60 min., Color/BW
In 1965, when three women walked into the US House of Representatives in Washington D.C., they had come a very long way. Neither lawyers nor politicia...

Storme
A film by Michelle Parkerson, 1987, 21 min., Color
“It ain’t easy…being green” is the favorite expression of Storme DeLarverie, a woman whose life flouted prescriptions of gender and race. During the ...

Syvilla
A film by Ayoka Chenzira, 1979, 15 min.
A portrait of Syvilla Fort focusing on the beauty of her choreography, the virtuosity of her dancing, and her role as teacher of a generation of Afric...

Tree Shade
A film by Lisa Collins, 1998, 29 min., Color/BW
Shame and embarrassment propel Savannah, a gifted high school student, to embark on a journey through space and time to witness the prison convictions...

Visions of the Spirit
A film by Elena Featherston, 1989, 58 min., Color
This intimate and inspiring portrait of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker explores the compassion, insight and strength that have made her on...

With a Vengeance
A film by Lori Hiris, 1989, 40 min., BW
This urgent and timely film is a history of the struggle for reproductive freedom since the 1960s, reflecting the wider history of the contemporary wo...

Women Organize!
A film by Joan E. Biren, Union Institute Ctr. for Women & Women and Organizing Documentation Project, 2000, 32 min., Color
WOMEN ORGANIZE! is an inspirational, half hour video that portrays women organizers across the U.S. who are involved in the global struggles for racia...

Your Children Come Back to You
A film by Alile Sharon Larkin, 1979, 27 min., BW
Alile Sharon Larkin's first film is a contemporary allegory about values and assimilation. The film literalizes the meaning of a "mother country" by m...

Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice
A film by Pat Saunders and Rea Tajiri, 1994, 57 min., Color
Yuri Kochiyama is a Japanese American woman who has lived in Harlem for more than 40 years with a long history of activism on a wide range of issues. ...

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