Roger Ebert memorably described movies as “empathy machines”. Watching films is one way we can, in Ebert’s words “understand a little bit more about what it’s like to be a different gender, a different race, a different age, a different economic class, a different nationality, a different profession, different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us”.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the protests in the US and the UK now feels like a time when we could all do a bit more understanding.
These are some of the films we’ve screened at Tufnell Park Film Club over the years that deal with race and racial inequality to varying degrees. You may want to revisit them now or watch for the first time if they’re new to you. When they exist (see below) we’ve added our original introductions on each of the pages.
Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee, USA, 1989)
Spike Lee’s recently revisited Do The Right Thing in 3 Brothers, his short film made in response to the deaths of Eric Garner and George Floyd. What Barack Obama said in 2014 remains true, it’s a film that “still holds up a mirror to our society”.
Bamboozled (Spike Lee, USA, 2000)
Perceived as something of a misstep when release, Spike Lee’s satire about the representation of African-Americans in popular culture feels more relevant now than it did at the start of the millennium.
Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley, USA, 2018)
A good companion piece to Bamboozled, in the words of critic Michael Phillips, “It’s a provocative, serious, ridiculous, screwy concoction about whiteface, cultural code-switching, African-American identities and twisted new forms of wage slavery, beyond previously known ethical limits.”
Nothing But a Man (Michael Roemer, USA, 1964)
Malcolm X declared this small-scale drama about a couple living near Birmingham, Alabama a favourite and the Nation of Islam newspaper called it a “you-must-see, don’t dare-miss movie… A blood and guts movie of black life as it is, without apology.”
Boyz ‘n’ the Hood (John Singleton, USA, 1991)
Singleton was both the first African-American and youngest person ever to receive a Best Director Oscar nomination for his autobiographical portrait South Central Los Angeles neighbourhood.
The Jazz Baroness (Hannah Rothschild, UK, 2009)
Documentary about the surprising friendship between jazz genius Thelonious Monk and English heiress Nica Rothschild, who abandoned her family home for New York City in the 1950s. Possibly the only film to feature Sonny Rollins and a Mitford sister. [Wayne Sez: Regulars at Film Club will, perhaps, be unsurprised to find out that my intros are mostly a series of bullet-points punctuated by lots of umming and ahhing. In the case of The Jazz Baroness, there aren’t even any bullet-points - probably because I decided to let the documentary tell its own story sans any rambling introduction. Suffice to say: if you’ve even a passing interest in jazz this (admittedly flawed) doc is well worth an hour or so of your time.]
The Landlord (Hal Ashby, USA, 1970)
The debut feature from the quintessential 70s New Hollywood director, Hal Ashby, is a brilliant satirical comedy about race relations in New York City. Beau Bridges stars as a wealthy young WASP who buys an inner-city tenement with the intention of evicting the present black occupants in order to construct a luxury home for himself. [Wayne Sez: Again, bullet-points only for my sorry intro. Rather than attempt to write them up into something vaguely cohesive, instead I’m going to direct you to this excellent Guardian article about The Landlord and its twin black writers (kristen Hunter and Bill Gunn: novelist and screenplay writer, respectively) which says everything I’d be trying to say but much, much better.]
Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock n Roll (Taylor Hackford, US, 1987)
Revealing documentary about the the rock and roll genius filmed over rehearsals and two concerts staged to celebrate Chuck Berry's 60th birthday at the Fox Theatre in St Louis, a venue that was segregated when Berry first went as a child.
Sapphire (Basil Dearden, UK, 1959)
We’re ending this list very close to home as much of Sapphire was filmed around Tufnell Park. The murder of a young woman on Hampstead Heath exposes deep racial tensions and prejudices inherent in the local area. As Indiewire noted, it’s “a truly fascinating look into attitudes and the mindset of a particular time, not that long ago”.
