The International Film Series’ magazine for Black History Month film series in the ATLAS Building at the University of Colorado Boulder on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (Summer Aljobory/CU Independent)
In honor of Black History Month, the International Film Series (IFS) will be showing ten films to highlight and celebrate Black cinema. This is a collaboration with the Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS).
Here’s a rundown of the IFS’s film slate:
“The Photograph” — 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15
This 2020 film, written and directed by Stella Meghie, follows a famous photographer’s daughter (Issa Rae), who falls in love with the journalist (LaKeith Stanfield) investigating her mother’s mysterious death.
“Black Dynamite” — 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21,
Starring Michael Jai White, Tommy Davidson and Salli Richardson, this action comedy from 2009 is a parody and homage to the blaxploitation genre.
“Bless Their Little Hearts” — 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 22
This 1984 film follows Charlie Banks (Nate Hardman) as he searches for steady work. While his wife Andais (Kaycee Moore) works to support their family of five, Charlie comforts his wounded masculinity with an affair.
“Till” — 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23
Based on a true story, this 2022 film depicts the life of Mamie Till-Bradley (Danielle Deadwyler), the mother of Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall), as she seeks justice for the brutal murder of her son in 1955.
“Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” — 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24
In this blaxploitation film from 1971, a Black male prostitute goes on the run after saving a Black Panther from racist cops.
“Buck and the Preacher” — 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25
This 1972 comedy, directed by and starring Sidney Poitier, is meant to redefine the Western genre with Black heroes.
“Personal Problems” — 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 26
This 1980 film follows a working-class African American couple, Johnnie Mae Brown (Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor) and Charles Brown (Walter Cotton), as they try to navigate their complicated relationship.
“Boyz n the Hood” — 7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 27
This 1991 coming-of-age drama stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King and Angela Bassett. The film shows the life of Tre Styles (Gooding Jr.), a young teen who is sent to live with his mortgage broker father (Fishburne), and his experiences with gang culture in south central Los Angeles.
“Black Girl” — 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28
This French-Senegalese film from 1966 depicts the story of a young woman named Diouana (Mbissine Thérèse Diop), who moves from Senegal to France to work as a nanny for a French couple. When she arrives in the country, Diounna receives harsh treatment from the couple, who treat her like a servant.
“The Woman King” — 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 1
Starring Viola Davis, this 2022 historical drama explores the story of the Agojie, an all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey from the 17th-19th centuries.
All IFS showings will take place at Muenzinger Auditorium on campus. Find more information about IFS’ Black History film series here.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jazmyne Bernal at jazmyne.bernal@colorado.edu.
