African American Culture Films

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Miles of Smiles
Miles of Smiles
1982 | 59mins
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Miles of Smiles
1982 | 59mins
Miles of Smiles tells the untold story of the Pullman porters who organized America’s first Black trade union – the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. But this inspiring film…
Me and Stella
Me and Stella
1976
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Me and Stella
1976
Geri Ashur’s Me & Stella  traces the life of blues musician, folk singer, and composer Elizabeth Cotten—and her guitar, Stella—who is best known for writing the folk standard…
Amen! Music of the Black Church
Amen! Music of the Black Church
2020 | 57mins
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Amen! Music of the Black Church
2020 | 57mins
"Amen!" explores the rich traditions, historical significance, and meaning of Black church music in a concert film, recorded before a live audience at the Second Baptist Church in…
Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker
1981 | 48mins
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Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker
1981 | 48mins
This film is available in a 63-minute version here: vimeo.com/ondemand/fundiElla Baker, a friend and advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr., played an instrumental role in shaping the…
Louisiana Blues
Louisiana Blues
1992 | 55mins
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Louisiana Blues
1992 | 55mins
A look at Cajun and Zydeco music that was started in Louisiana. Many artists are featured in the film.
Virginia Peanut Story
Virginia Peanut Story
2019 | 58mins
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Virginia Peanut Story
2019 | 58mins
The Virginia Peanut Story tells the rise and fall of the dominance of the Virginia/Carolina peanut industry. Aided by returning Union soldiers after the Civil War, railroads and…
Sacred Soul
Sacred Soul
2021 | 32mins
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Sacred Soul
2021 | 32mins
Eleven groups in eight days. A marathon recording session in a makeshift storefront studio in a 100-year-old building in the tiny Eastern North Carolina town of Fountain. Once the…
Dink: A Pre-Blues Musician
Dink: A Pre-Blues Musician
1975 | 30mins
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Dink: A Pre-Blues Musician
1975 | 30mins
Other Side of Eden
Other Side of Eden
2018 | 59mins
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Other Side of Eden
2018 | 59mins
On a hot July night in 1932 a black tenant farmer in Northern Virginia slipped into his landowner’s home “Edenhurst,” beat him unconscious with a piece of stove wood, and dragged…
Singing Stream
Singing Stream
1986 | 57mins
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Singing Stream
1986 | 57mins
The story of a gifted African American family from the rural South. With interviews and stories, and scenes from daily life, reunions, gospel concerts, and church services, the…
Cajun Country
Cajun Country
1991 | 56mins
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Cajun Country
1991 | 56mins
Alan Lomax's wonderful documentary about the bayous of Louisiana which have combined French, German, West Indian, native American and hillbilly ingredients into a unique cultural…
We Shall Not Be Moved
We Shall Not Be Moved
2007 | 46mins
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We Shall Not Be Moved
2007 | 46mins
During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was supposed to give sharecroppers a chance at land ownership. But for Black farmers in Tillery, North Carolina,…
Cradle is Rocking
Cradle is Rocking
1968 | 12mins
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Cradle is Rocking
1968 | 12mins
George "Kid Shiek" Colar and the Olympia Brass Band are featured in this rare film about New Orleans Jazz, directed by Frank DeCola and photographed by Tom Davenport.
Born for Hard Luck
Born for Hard Luck
1976 | 29mins
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Born for Hard Luck
1976 | 29mins
A film portrait of the last Black medicine-show performer, Arthur "Peg Leg Sam" Jackson, with harmonica songs, tales of hoboing, buckdances, and a live medicine-show performance.
From Mambo to Hip Hop
From Mambo to Hip Hop
2006 | 53mins
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From Mambo to Hip Hop
2006 | 53mins
From Mambo to Hip-Hop dances through the history of a borough that nurtured two musical movements: the mambo that evolved into salsa, and the hip-hop that arose from the most…

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