What’s Streaming Now: Celebrating Black Voices In Film

By ETCanada.com Staff. 8 Feb 2021 9:00 AM

From “Selma” to “Just Mercy” to “BlacKkKlansman”, here are some of the powerful Black stories depicted in film that are available to stream right now.

Warner Bros.

Photo: Getty Images

Netflix

Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for IMDb

'Say Her Name: The Life And Death Of Sandra Bland'

Universal Pictures

Photo: Netflix

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‘Just Mercy’
Warner Bros.
Where To Stream: Crave

In the drama, which premiered at TIFF, Jamie Foxx plays a man who has spent six years on death row after being wrongly accused of murder before the Equal Justice Initiative gets him a lawyer (Michael B. Jordan).

Foxx told Stephen Colbert: "This is the most important movie I’ve ever done because Walter McMillian is a stone throw away from me or any Black man. I don’t like the perception of a Black man going to jail. I never go visit anybody in jail. I didn’t even visit my father, I wrote him one letter.”

Watch ET Canada's Graeme O'Neil's extended interview with Foxx and Michael B. Jordan here.
'Selma'
Photo: Getty Images
Where To Stream: Netflix

David Oyelowo was promoting his role as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma", the Ava DuVernay-directed film about the slain Civil Rights icon's famed marches from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol of Montgomery when he and his castmates addressed Eric Garner's death by wearing "I Can't Breathe" t-shirts to the film's premiere in December 2014.

Garner, a 43-year-old Black man, died after being placed in a chokehold by an NYPD officer. His final words: "I can't breathe."
'When They See Us'
Netflix
Where To Stream:
Netflix

In 1989, New York City shook with outrage when five black male teenagers were convicted of raping a white female jogger in Central Park. After they spent years behind bars, continually maintaining their innocence, it was proven conclusively they were all wrongly accused and convicted. This gripping miniseries from Ava DuVernay tells the story of how a media frenzy and fearful politicians combined to destroy the lives of innocent teenagers.

DuVernay held a viewing party and live discussion on June 1, 2020, one year after "When They See Us" was released.

The anniversary of the miniseries came at a timely moment in the United States as thousands of people marched for #BlackLivesMatter and against police brutality.
‘If Beale Street Could Talk’

Where To Stream: Amazon Prime Video

Director Barry Jenkins' follow-up to the Oscar-winning “Moonlight", “If Beale Street Could Talk”, premiered at TIFF in 2018.

The movie tells the story of the pregnant Tish (Kiki Layne) and her quest to prove her incarcerated fiance’s innocence. Based on the story by James Baldwin, Toronto’s Stephan James heads up a cast that includes Regina King, Brian Tyree Henry, Diego Luna and Finn Wittrock.

King told ET: "Barry’s ability to tell stories and show us as Black — young people, older people, middle-aged people — and how we love on each other and how our love gets us through things, he has just such a unique ability to do it so beautifully. And I wanted to be a part of that."

King won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 2019.
'BlacKkKlansman’
Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images for IMDb
Where To Stream:
Netflix

"BlacKkKlansman" actors Laura Harrier, John David Washington and director Spike Lee are pictured talking to IMDb On The Scene during the Cannes Film Festival.

Lee won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019 for the film.

Based on actual events, "BlacKkKlansman" follows Ron Stallworth, a Black police officer from Colorado Springs who successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader.

Lee says, "I am a storyteller… I’m not like most filmmakers, and the films I make aren’t like most films," when talking about the social impact of the film with Vanity Fair.
'Say Her Name: The Life And Death Of Sandra Bland'

Where To Stream:
Crave

The HBO documentary, "Say Her Name: The Life And Death Of Sandra Bland", won the 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary (Television).

Sandra Bland was a politically active 28-year-old black woman from Chicago was arrested for a traffic violation in Texas. Three days later, Sandra was found hanging from a noose in her jail cell. Though ruled a suicide, her death sparked allegations of racially-motivated police murder and Sandra became a poster child for activists nationwide, leaving millions to question what happened to her.

Filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner worked with the family's legal team just days after her death. The film brings disturbing new details to light and features Sandra’s own passionate and moving commentary throughout.
'The Photograph'
Universal Pictures
Where To Stream: Crave

Directed by Toronto’s Stella Meghie (“The Weekend”), “The Photograph” stars Issa Rae as Mae, a woman who is left hurt and angered by the unexpected death of her estranged photographer mother. Diving into her mother’s past as she seeks closure on her unanswered questions, she begins an unanticipated romance with a journalist named Michael (LaKeith Stanfield). Her journey to discover her mother’s youth brings new understanding to Mae, opening up a world of love and possibilities.

Meghie tells ET Canada one of the most important things in her career as a Black woman filmmaker, is the support she's received from all kinds of places, including publicly from stars like Lena Waithe and Regina King on social media.
'13th'

Where To Stream:
Netflix

Ava DuVernay's doc "13th" won the MTV Movie and TV Award for Best Documentary in 2017.

DuVernay explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation's prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.

The title of the documentary "13th" is based on the 13th Amendment, which was to abolish slavery in 1865, except for the small clause that slavery shall no longer exist in the U.S. “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.“
'Malcolm X'

Where To Stream:
Crave

In the Apple TV+ documentary "Dear..." Director Spike Lee explains how he was able to create the three-hour film he knew he needed to create, starring Denzel Washington as Malcolm X.

Lee credits Black supporters like Oprah Winfrey, Prince and Janet Jackson with helping to fund the movie so he could finish it as he saw fit.
'Barry'
Photo: Netflix
Where To Stream: Netflix

The Barack Obama biopic "Barry" premiered at TIFF in 2016, before its release in December that year.

The film is a nuanced, artistic exploration of a pivotal year in the life of the 44th president of the United States. A young Obama arrives in New York City in the fall of 1981 to begin his junior year at Columbia University. What follows lays the foundation for his views on race, government, and what it means to be an American.

Australian newcomer Devon Terrell gives his breakout performance as Barry. It also features a strong supporting cast including Ashley Judd, Jenna Elfman, and up-and-comers Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Mitchell, Ellar Coltrane and Avi Nash.
'Becoming'
Photo: Netflix
Where To Stream:
Netflix

Michelle Obama takes viewers behind-the-scenes of her Becoming book tour.

Her autobiography shares her life story and her journey to "Becoming" the first Black First Lady of the United States. The documentary's tagline, "Your Story Is Your Power."

What’s Streaming Now: Celebrating Black Voices In Film

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