Black American Film in 2019

Our Year in Review continues...

by Kyndall Cunningham

It’s hard to summarize the past year in Black American film as smoothly as I could if I was doing so at the end of 2018. It wasn’t just that this year’s most notable critical darlings failed to strike an emotional chord with Black audiences in comparison to recent years. There was also a lot of intense, misguided discourse online about the year’s most highly anticipated studio films like Harriet and Queen & Slim. The best of this year's crop - Fast Color, Luce and Little Woods - flew under the radar due to limited distribution and marketing. Even Jordan Peele’s ambitious Get Out follow-up Us, which was a huge hit, left a lot of people confused about its meaning. Needless to say, it was an interesting way to cap off a decade that slowly gave a new class of Black artists the freedom to make the movies they wanted without catering to a white lens. 

**This is not a comprehensive selection of films**

The Internet’s disdain for last year’s Green Book spurred many conversations about white filmmakers’ ability to accurately portray Black people in their art. So it was interesting that, once again, this year’s most highly acclaimed and talked about Black movies out of prestige festivals were written and directed by white men: Trey Edward Shults’ Waves, Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Craig Brewer’s Dolemite is My Name...

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Review: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in "Fast Color"

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

When it comes to great actresses who haven’t become household names despite terrific performances, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is at the top of the list. In 2014, she was headlining Belle and Beyond the Lights, both to much acclaim. I’ve been a fan of hers since the 2010 NBC series Undercovers, a quickly-axed show that I’m pretty sure only I liked. Shortly after it was cancelled, she had a role in the Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts comedy Larry Crowne and it looked like her career might really be taking off. After supporting parts in projects as diverse as Miss Sloane and A Wrinkle in Time, she’s now taking the lead role in a superhero movie, which Chris first reported on more than two years ago.

As 90% of movie theater audiences hold their breath waiting for the 181 minute Avengers: Endgame to be released, this is something completely different...

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A Gugu Mbatha-Raw Superhero Movie?

Chris here. As if Gugu Mbatha-Raw's superpowers of extreme watchability and versatility aren't enough to satisfy us, she'll be getting the more fantastical kind for her next movie. And no, we're not talking a comic book adaptation, but something original. The underrated actress will star in Fast Color as a superpowered woman on the run that must seek shelter from her estranged family. The project promises three generations of women, so stayed tuned for more casting. Hopefully they'll be names as intriguing as Gugu.

If this all sounds a bit like a female Midnight Special, rest assured it's in smart hands. Julia Hart will be directing from a script she cowrote with Jordan Horowitz. Hart & Horowitz were also behind this year's tiny gem Miss Stevens (not to be confused by Gugu's own Miss Sloane), which features a fantastic performance from Lily Rabe. Miss Stevens is currently on Netflix, so be sure to catch up to it.

Mbatha-Raw will be everywhere at the movies this year - Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time, the upcoming Cloverfield film, and Beauty and the Beast. But could Fast Color be the one that brings her the accolades she deserves?