Small Axe: Seared into Consciousness
Steve McQueen’s monumental, five-film portrait of London’s West Indian community is a howl of endorsement for political resistance and a vivid indictment of institutional malaise.
As Sure as the Sun Will Shine: Justine Henzell on The Harder They Come at Fifty
In celebration of the reggae classic’s anniversary, the daughter of director Perry Henzell reflects on the global influence of the film and its beloved soundtrack.
Ghosts of the Future: A Conversation with Larry Achiampong
In a suite of four sci-fi-inflected short films now playing on the Criterion Channel, the British Ghanaian artist imagines a time in which Africa has ascended to prosperity but continues to grapple with the remnants of its colonial past.
Secrets & Lies: Seen and Not Seen
Mike Leigh’s midcareer masterpiece is one of the finest examples of his ability to construct riveting drama from ordinary life.
Touki bouki: Word, Sound, and Power
One of the most striking debuts in film history, Djibril Diop Mambéty’s unconventional picaresque forged new aesthetic paths for African cinema with its dreamlike narrative, discontinuous editing, and jagged soundscapes.
Bamboozled: New Millennium, Same Bullshit
For one of the most provocative and eerily prescient films of his career, Spike Lee confronted the racist neo-minstrelsy that continues to pervade mass entertainment.
To Sleep with Anger: You Never Know What’s in the Heart
Steeped in African American folklore, this sublime family portrait finds Charles Burnett departing from the naturalism of his early films and embracing elements of magic realism.
Alone Together in the City: One Scene from Naked
The disheveled drifter at the heart of Mike Leigh’s 1993 masterpiece collides with a disturbed young man in this brilliantly acted, semi-screwball scene.
Black Girl: Self, Possessed
In his radical debut feature, Ousmane Sembène reveals the agony of the postcolonial experience through the story of a Senegalese migrant abused by her French employers.