Movies (fiction) by Category

12 years a slave 2013

The harrowing account of a black man, born free in New York State, who was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery in 1841. Having no way to contact his family, and fearing for his life if he told the truth, Solomon Northup was sold from plantation to plantation in Louisiana, toiling under cruel masters for twelve years before meeting Samuel Bass, a Canadian who finally put him in touch with his family, and helped start the process to regain his freedom. 1 videodisc (134 min.)

MEDIA 10-4871

 

Across 110th Street 2001, 1972

A hard-edged cop on the take for years battles the Mafia and local gansters in Harlem. 1 videodisc (101 min.)

MEDIA 10-4024

 

Ali 2002

Jon Peters, Gregory Allen Howard, Stephen J Rivele, Michael Mann, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright, Mykelti Williamson,  Jada Pinkett, Nona Gaye, Michael Michele, and Joe Morton

Dramatic biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife, converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight championship title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle.". 1 videodisc (157 min.)

MEDIA 10-162

 

The blood of Jesus 2006, 1941

Concerns the accidental shooting of a woman and of the faith in Jesus that brings her back. As she lies dying, her soul goes on a symbolic journey in which it rejects Hell for Zion, Satan for God, at the foot of the cross. When she awakens recovered, the choir of sisters and brothers from the church come in to sing and celebrate the miracle. Offers a glimpse into Southern Baptist life from an African-American perspective. 1 videodisc (57 min.)

MEDIA 10-4020

 

Boyz 'n the hood 1998

John Singleton, Steve Nicolaides, Larry Fishburne, Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, and Morris Chestnut

For three young men growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the "hood" is a place of drive-by shootings, unemployment, drugs and pain. But their reactions to the world around them vary- one is an unambitious drug dealer, his brother is a college bound teenage father, and the brother's best friend is guided by a strong father who hopes for a better life for his son. 1 videodisc (112 min.)

MEDIA 10-45

 

Broad daylight and other times selected works of Kevin Jerome Everson c2011

Kevin Jerome Everson, Art Institute of Chicago, Video Data Bank, Picture Palace (Firm), and Trich Arts

"What do we see in the films of Kevin Jerome Everston? We see what cinema rarely, if ever, show us. We see the ordinary gestures of America's Black population, the gestures of work and sport, of the taxi driver, the trucker, the policeman, of the amateur and the champion. We see men and women talking into the film maker's microphone or that of a TV station, going and coming with the rhythm of works and days, but also with a rhythm of images that originate as waves: flux and reflex, broad days and lights out, visibility and invisibility, etc."--Accompanying booklet. 3 videodiscs (183 min.) :

MEDIA 10-2800

 

The Charles Burnett collection c2007

Charles Burnett, Henry G Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Everette Silas, Jessie Holmes, Richard Peńa, Armond White, Sept/Arte (Firm), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Milestone Film & Video, and New Yorker Video (Firm)

Killer of sheep: An African-American slaughterhouse worker searches for tiny moments of beauty in his predominantly bleak life. My brother's wedding: A young African-American man navigates his conflicting obligations while trying to figure out what he really wants in life. 2 videodiscs (332 min.)

MEDIA 10-1198

 

Clockers 1995

Two brothers grow up together in the same Brooklyn housing projects, but they are as opposite as good and evil. Victor Dunham has a family, works two jobs and leads a respectable life. His 19-year-old brother, Strike, hangs out with his friends on a bench and sells crack cocaine. Strike agrees to kill a rival dealer as a favor to Rodney, the neighborhood drug kingpin, but when the man is murdered, it is Victor who confesses. Detective Rocco Kleine won't buy Victor's confession, and begins to attempt to break down the stories of both brothers in order to save Victor. 1 videodisc (128 min.)

MEDIA 10-4693

 

The color purple 2007, 1985

The heart-wrenching story of a young black girl in the early 20th century who is forced into a brutal marriage and separated from her sister. 1 videodisc (154 min.)

MEDIA 10-4731

 

Do the right thing 1998, 1989

Traces the course of a single day on a block in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. It's the hottest day of the year, a scorching 24-hour period that will change the lives of its residents forever. 1 videodisc (120 min.)

MEDIA 10-3903

 

Edge of the city 2009

If you need a job Charlie Malik can find a spot for you in the dockside railyards. All he needs in return is that you show up on time, work hard, and kick back part of your pay. Two New York City longshoremen, Axel Nordmann, an Army deserter, and Tommy Tyler, an easy-going freight car loader, join forces against a corrupt New York waterfront union official. The two share a bond that cuts across society's black/white divide. 1 videodisc (85 min.)

MEDIA 10-5563

 

For love of Ivy c2004, 1968

Robert A Aurthur, Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln, Beau Bridges, Nan Martin, Lauri Peters, Carroll O'Connor, Leon Bibb, Edgar J Scherick, Jay Weston, Daniel Mann, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Palomar Pictures International, and MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc

A wealthy family, afraid of losing their housekeeper to a secretarial career, fix her up with a man-about-town, who is secretly involved in illegal gambling. 1 videodisc (ca. 101 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 178 10-462

 

Free Angela, and all political prisoners "A ... docudrama that takes a gripping look at the historical incidents that created an international movement to free activist Angela Davis, and tells the story of social justice activism that lands her on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list"--Container. 1 videodisc (102 min.)

MEDIA 10-4863

 

Fruitvale Station 2013

Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008. 1 videodisc (85 min.)

MEDIA 10-4635

 

Get on the bus c2000

Follows a group of different men traveling from Los Angeles to the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. They board the bus as strangers but emerge three days and thousands of miles later as brothers. 1 videodisc (121 min.)

MEDIA 10-5440

 

The glass shield 2005, 1994

Charles Burnett, Thomas S Byrnes, Carolyn Schroeder, Richard Anderson, Michael Boatman, Ice Cube, Bernie Casey, Elliott Gould, Don Harvey, Miramax Home Entertainment (Firm), Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Firm), Miramax Films, and CIBY 2000 (Firm)

The first African American assigned to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department uncovers a corrupt and racist precinct. 1 videodisc (ca. 115 min.)

MEDIA 10-1450

 

He got game 2014

A prisoner is granted a furlough in hopes of persuading his estranged son, the country's top high school basketball player, to attend the governor's alma mater. 1 videodisc (ca. 136 min.)

MEDIA 10-5449

 

Illusions 2005?, 1982

An exploration of Hollywood's role as a purveyor of illusion. Two black women, one a studio executive who passes for white, and one who provides the singing voice for a famous white actress, struggle to find happiness and acceptance in WWII-era Hollywood. 1 videodisc (36 min.)

MEDIA 10-4732

 

Jungle fever 1998

Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L Jackson, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, and Anthony Quinn

A black architect begins an affair with his working class Italian secretary. Their relationship causes them to be scrutinized by their friends, cast out from their families and shunned by their neighbors. 1 videodisc (89 min.)

MEDIA DANA 10-47   1403

 

Just another girl on the I.R.T 2002

A black teenage girl living in Brooklyn dreams of medical school, a family, and an escape from the generational poverty of the inner city. Her dreams are put on hold when she becomes pregnant by her boyfriend. 1 videodisc (1 hr., 37 min.)

MEDIA 10-5037

 

Lee Daniels' the butler 2013

Inspired by a true story about Cecil Gaines, a devoted husband, father, and White House butler who served eight Presidential administrations during the turbulent politics and civil rights battles of twentieth century America. 1 videodisc (132 min.)

MEDIA 10-4636

 

The long walk home 1991

Whoopi Goldberg, Sissy Spacek, Dwight Schultz, Edwin C Atkins, Howard W Koch, Dave Bell, and Richard Pearce

Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg is Odessa Cotter, a quietly dignified woman, who works as a housekeeper for Miriam Thompson (Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek). When Odessa honors the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott by walking an exhausting nine miles to and from work, Miriam offers her a ride. Defying both Miriam's racist husband (Dwight Schultz) and the powerful White Citizen's Council, Miriam and Odessa put their lives in danger for civil rights. 1 videocassette (98 min.)

MEDIA     DANA 10-3375 1014

 

Losing ground 2012?

A drama set in New York in which Sara Rogers, a Black woman philosophy professor is married to a painter. In the marriage her stable, rational personality acts as a buffer to her husband's more instinctual, artistic approach to life. Feeling limited by this too intellectual definition of herself, Sara goes in search of ecstasy, and winds up on a student movie set playing the vengeful vamp Frankie from the legendary "Frankie and Johnnie" song of Black mythology. 1 videodisc (86 min.)

MEDIA 10-4972

 

Mahogany 2007

A poor girl is a success when she becomes a world-famous fashion model and designer. But at the same time, she yearns for her boyfriend back home. 1 videodisc (108 min.)

MEDIA 10-5443

 

Malcolm X 2005, 1992

Screen version of the life of Malcolm X, who through his religious conversion to Islam, found the strength to rise up from a criminal past to become an influential civil rights leader. 2 videodiscs (202 min.)

MEDIA 10-4370

 

Menace II society 2009

A young street hustler attempts to escape the rigors and temptations of the ghetto in a quest for a better life. 1 videodisc (97 min.)

MEDIA 10-5564

 

Middle of nowhere Devoted wife Ruby drops out of medical school after her husband Derek receives an eight-year prison sentence, and struggles to find the courage to remain faithful and supportive as the demands of being a prison wife weigh heavily on her shoulders. 1 videodisc (approximately 92 min.)

MEDIA 10-5450

 

Miss Evers' boys c2010, 1997

"It is 1932 when loyal, devoted Nurse Eunice Evers is invited to work with Dr. Brodus and Dr. Douglas on a federally funded program to treat syphilis patients in Alabama. Free treatment is offered to those who test positive for the disease, including Caleb Humphries and Willie Johnson. But when the government withdraws its support, money is offered for what will become known as 'The Tuskegee Experiment'; a study of the effects of syphilis on patients who don't receive treatment. Now the men must be led to believe they are being cared for, when in fact they are being denied the medicine that could cure them. Miss Evers is faced with a terrible dilemma - to abandon the experiment and tell her patients or to remain silent and offer only comfort"--Container. 1 videodisc (118 min.)

MEDIA 10-4044

 

Nightjohn c2005, 1996

Charles Burnett, Dennis Stuart Murphy, Beau Bridges, Carl Lumbly, Lorraine Toussaint, Allison Jones, Gary Paulsen, Hallmark Entertainment (Firm), Sarabande Productions, Disney Channel (Firm), Echo Bridge Home Entertainment (Firm), and Signboard Hill Productions

The story of a young slave girl and the man who, at great risk to each other, teaches her to read, opening up a whole new world for her. 1 videodisc (96 min.)

MEDIA 10-1443

 

Pariah 2012, 2011

Alike is a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity--sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward. 1 videodisc (87 min.) :

MEDIA 10-3829

 

The pursuit of happyness 2007

Todd Black, Will Smith, Steve Conrad, Gabriele Muccino, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta, Kurt Fuller, Takayo Fischer, Overbrook Films, Escape Artists (Firm), Columbia Pictures Corporation, Relativity Media, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm)

In 1981, Chris Gardner was a struggling salesman. His wife worked double shifts to support the family including their young son, Christopher. In the face of this difficult life, Chris has the desperate inspiration to try for a stockbroker internship where one in twenty has a chance of a lucrative full time career. Even when his wife leaves him because of this choice, Chris clings to this dream. The odds become more daunting by the day. Together, father and son struggle through homelessness, jail time, tax seizure and the overall punishing despair in a quest that would make Gardner a respected millionaire. 1 videodisc (ca. 117 min.)

MEDIA 10-1004

 

A Raisin in the sun 1987

Lorraine Hansberry, David Susskind, Philip Rose, Daniel Petrie, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, and Claudia McNeil

Film of the award-winning play about a struggling black family living on Chicago's South Side and the impact of an unexpected insurance bequest. Each family member sees the bequest as the means of realizing dreams and of escape from grinding frustrations. 1 videocassette (128 min.)

MEDIA   DANA      MEDIA 10-90       1040            2-1415

 

Red tails c2012

Italy, 1944. As the war takes its toll on Allied forces in Europe, a squadron of black pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen are finally given the chance to prove themselves in the sky, even as they battle discrimination on the ground. Featuring jaw-dropping aerial action and thrilling special effects, Red Tails is a breathtaking tribute to the unsung heroes who rose above extraordinary challenges and ultimately soared into history. 1 videodisc (125 min.)

MEDIA 10-3904

 

Remember the Titans 2001, 2000

A drama of forced high school integration in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. After leading his team to fifteen winning seasons, white football coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by African-American Herman Boone, tough, opinionated and as different from Yoast as could be. The two men overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions. A rousing celebration of how a town torn apart by resentment, friction and mistrust comes together in triumphant harmony. 1 videodisc (114 min.)

MEDIA 10-4637

 

Shaft 2006, 1971

John Shaft, a private investigator, is hired by a Harlem crime boss to find his kidnapped daughter. During his investigation, Shaft uncovers a Mafia plot to take over a chunck of the Black underworld's uptown territory. 1 videodisc (100 min.)

MEDIA 10-4021

 

She hate me c2005

Executive John Henry "Jack" Armstrong gets fired when he blows the whistle on his bosses' business dealings. Desperate to make a living, he accepts his lesbian ex-girlfriend's offer for cash to impregnate her and soon he has a line seeking his services. 1 videodisc (139 min.)

MEDIA 10-5442

 

The Tuskegee airmen 1995

Robert Markowitz, William C Carraro, Paris Quallos, Trey Ellis, Roy Hutchinson, Robert Williams, T. S Cook, Larry Fishburne, Allen Payne, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Courtney B Vance, Andre Braugher, Chris McDonald, John Lithgow, and Cuba Gooding

A celebration of the "Fighting 99th", the first squadron of black combat fighters in World War II, who battled prejudice in training at Tuskegee, Ala., the Axis in North Africa and Europe, bigotted officers assigned to oversee them, and a U.S. congressman out to prove they were unfit to serve. 1 videocassette (106 min.)

DANA    MEDIA 1051        10-171

 

Les verts p©Ųturages 2009

God, heaven, and several Old Testament stories, including the Creation and Noah's Ark, are described supposedly using the perspective of rural, black Americans. 1 videodisc (108 min.)

MEDIA 10-5346

 

Wattstax c2004, 1974

Mel Stuart, Richard Pryor, Isaac Hayes, Luther Ingram, Johnnie Taylor, Staple Singers, Emotions (Musical group), and Warner Home Video (Firm)

On Aug. 20, 1972, more than 100,000 people attended a concert that came to be known as 'the Black Woodstock.' Wattstax documents this historic event and includes the once-lost original ending. 1 videodisc (103 min.)

MEDIA 10-579

 

Ali 2002

Jon Peters, Gregory Allen Howard, Stephen J Rivele, Michael Mann, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright, Mykelti Williamson,  Jada Pinkett, Nona Gaye, Michael Michele, and Joe Morton

Dramatic biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife, converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight championship title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle.". 1 videodisc (157 min.)

MEDIA 10-162

 

Alma's Rainbow 1996, 1993

Ayoka Chenzira, Howard Brickner, Charles Lane, Jean-Paul Bourelly, Kim Weston-Moran, Mizan Nunes, Lee Dobson, and Victoria Gabriella Platt

Rainbow is the daughter of Alma, "the no-nonsense owner of a popular beauty parlor"..."Ruby, Alma's free-spirited sister, unexpectedy arrives after a ten year absence, bringing the beauty and warmth Rainbow craves, and a few secrets from Alma's past.". 1 videocassette (88 min.)

MEDIA 2-3785

 

The black king c1993

A. B Comathiere, Vivianne Baber, Knolly Mitchell, Bud Pollard, Donald Heywood, Facets Video (Firm), and Sack Amusement Enterprises

The main character, "Charcoal" Johnson, through connivance, becomes the minister/leader of a Logan, Mississippi congregation from which he attempts to extort money for a "Back to Africa" movement. He proclaims himself King of the United States of Africa. 1 videocassette (70 min.)

  DANA 1913

 

Black like me 1992, 1964

Carl Lerner, Julius Tannenbaum, Gerda Lerner, John Howard Griffin, Victor Weingarten, James Whitmore, Will Geer, and Roscoe Lee Browne

A white writer travels through the racially torn South of the 1950's as a black man by chemically darkening his skin color and cutting and dyeing his hair to personally experience and write about racism and prejudice. 1 videocassette (107 min.)

DANA 1009

 

Body and soul 1998, 1925

Paul Robeson, Oscar Micheaux, Lawrence Chenault, Julia Theresa Russell, Mercedes Gilbert, and Marshall Rodgers

Paul Robeson in his first screen role, plays two parts, an evil preacher and his good brother, who wage a personal war for the body and soul of the heroine. 1 videocassette (100 min.)  1 videocassette (75 min.)

MEDIA          DANA 2-3557            598

 

Boyz 'n the hood 1998

John Singleton, Steve Nicolaides, Larry Fishburne, Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, and Morris Chestnut

For three young men growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the "hood" is a place of drive-by shootings, unemployment, drugs and pain. But their reactions to the world around them vary- one is an unambitious drug dealer, his brother is a college bound teenage father, and the brother's best friend is guided by a strong father who hopes for a better life for his son. 1 videodisc (112 min.)

MEDIA 10-45

 

Buck and The Preacher 2007? 1971

Ernest Kinoy, Joel Glickman, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell, Alex Phillips, Benny Carter, Columbia Pictures Corporation, E & R Productions Corp, Belafonte Enterprises, Columbia TriStar Home Video (Firm), and Columbia Pictures Industries

"Buck, an ex-Union Army Cavalry sergeant ... becomes a scout for freed slaves heading to the Colorado frontier. Tagging along with him are his wife and a Bible-thumping con artist known as The Preacher. Attacked by racist bounty hunters determined to return the former slaves to a life of sharecropping in Louisiana, Buck and his followers must summon all the courage they have in order to reach their destination and help settle the Wild West"--container. 1 videodisc (117 min.)

DANA 448

 

The Charles Burnett collection c2007

Charles Burnett, Henry G Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Everette Silas, Jessie Holmes, Richard Peńa, Armond White, Sept/Arte (Firm), Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Milestone Film & Video, and New Yorker Video (Firm)

Killer of sheep: An African-American slaughterhouse worker searches for tiny moments of beauty in his predominantly bleak life. My brother's wedding: A young African-American man navigates his conflicting obligations while trying to figure out what he really wants in life. 2 videodiscs (332 min.)

MEDIA 10-1198

 

Coffy 1998

Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert DoQui, William Elliott, Allan Arbus, Sid Haig, Robert A Papazian, and Jack Hill

Pam Grier plays a nurse by day, avenging angel by night in order to retaliate against a greedy drug pusher who has corrupted her younger sister.  She carries out her mission of vengeance to the very top. 1 videocassette (90 min.)

MEDIA 2-5178

 

Commitments c2001

Vince Ravine, John J Kelly, Carol Mayes, Allen Payne, Victoria Dillard, Joe Torry, Michael Greene, Fredro Starr, Toby Smith, Virginia Capers, and BET Pictures

With money, power, prestige and a beautiful apartment in New York City, super stockbroker Fox Giovanni thought she had it all. She loved life in the fast lane, until a heart attack changed everything. Ordered by her doctor to rest, she calls her only friend in the world, her foster mother, who invites her to recover in the small town of Slumber, North Carolina. Now, far from everything she knows, she's examining who she is, falling in love and finding her way in a strange new place that feels surprisingly like home. 1 videodisc (93 min.)

DANA 88

 

Cotton comes to Harlem 1999

Ossie Davis, Samuel Goldwyn, Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, Calvin Lockhart, Chester B Himes, Judy Pace, Arnold Perl, Redd Foxx, John Anderson, Emily Yancy, Lou Jacobi, Eugene Roche, and J. D Cannon

St. Jacques is Coffin Ed Johnson and Cambridge is Gravedigger Jones, black cops who suspect preacher Lockhart's back-to-Africa campaign is a swindle. Neatly combines action and comedy. 1 videocassette (ca. 96 min.)

MEDIA      DANA 2-5179         133

 

Do the right thing  1989

Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee

Spike Lee's powerful film combines humor and drama with memorable chararcters while tracing the course of a single day on a block in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, New York. 1 videocassette (120 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 55 2-838

 

Duke is tops 1994, 1938

Lena Horne, Ralph Cooper, Monte Hawley, Lawrence Criner, Vernon McCalla, Edward Thompson, Harry M Popkin, and William L Nolte

Lena Horne, in her film debut, plays a successful singer who very nearly loses her man because his career as a producer is on the skids. 1 videocassette (72 min.)

DANA 597

 

Five on the black hand side c2001

Brock Peters, Michael Tolan, Charlie L Russell, Oscar Williams, Clarice Taylor, Leonard Jackson, Virginia Capers, United Artists Corporation, and MGM Home Entertainment Inc

Mr. Brooks is the domineering head of his middle-class, African American family.  However, Mr. Brooks must do some soul-searching after his previously subordinate wife joins their children in rebelling against her husband's authoritative behavior. 1 videodisc (96 min.)

DANA 301

 

For love of Ivy c2004, 1968

Robert A Aurthur, Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln, Beau Bridges, Nan Martin, Lauri Peters, Carroll O'Connor, Leon Bibb, Edgar J Scherick, Jay Weston, Daniel Mann, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Palomar Pictures International, and MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc

A wealthy family, afraid of losing their housekeeper to a secretarial career, fix her up with a man-about-town, who is secretly involved in illegal gambling. 1 videodisc (ca. 101 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 178 10-462

 

Go down, death! 1994

Spencer Williams, Sam Elljay, Alfred N Sack, James Weldon Johnson, Myra D Hemmings, Samuel H James, and Eddy L Houston

"A morality melodrama which puts a minister's reputation in question, bringing him to the brink of Heaven and Hell."--Facets video catalog # 12. 1 videocassette (54 min.)

DANA 594

 

Go tell it on the mountain 1985

Calvin Skaggs, Stan Lathan, Jay Freund, Paul Winfield, Alfre Woodard, Rosalind Cash, James Bond,  Olivia Cole, Ruby Dee , and James Baldwin

"To be Black in America.  To seek both salvation and understanding in the journey of a family from the rural South to 'big city' Harlem.  To be a young boy struggling to earn the approval of a self-righteous and often unloving stepfather."--Container. 1 videocassette (97 min.)

DANA     MEDIA 1420           2-2176

 

The green pastures 1993, 1936

Marc Connelly, William Keighley, Rex Ingram, Oscar Polk,  Eddie Anderson, and Marc Connelly

An all-Black cast presents Marc Connelly's religious allegory, based on the premise of a Southern Black preacher telling Bible stories to his Sunday school class in terms of the world they are familiar with. 1 videocassette (90 min.)

MEDIA 2-6201

 

Harlem rides the range 1994, 1939

Spencer Williams, Richard C Kahn, Lucius Brooks, Herbert Jeffrey, Flournoy E Miller, and Artie Young

A sagebrush singer's two-gun law is all that stands between the claim-jumpimg villains and the heroine and her father's uranium mine. 1 videocassette (58 min.)

DANA 593

 

Home of the brave 1989, 1949

Mark Robson, Arthur Laurents, Stanley Kramer, Carl Foreman, James Edwards, Lloyd Bridges, and Frank Lovejoy

A black soldier is sent on a top secret mission in the South Pacific, but finds that he must battle with his white comrades as he is subjected to subordinate treatment and constant racial slurs. Hollywood's first outstanding statement against racial prejudice. 1 videocassette (86 min.)

MEDIA 2-3468

 

Illusions 1983

Julie Dash, Lonette McKee, Roseanne Katon, Ned Bellamy, Jack Radar, Ella Fitzgerald, and Chick Webb

Story takes place in 1942 and is about Mignon Dupree, a black woman studio executive who appears to be white, and Ester Jeeter, a black woman who is the singing voice for a white Hollywood star.  The film follows the struggles of the women as well as the use of film in wartime Hollywood. 1 videocassette (34 min.)

MEDIA 2-3490

 

Jericho 1997, 1937

Thornton Freeland, Walter Futter, Robert N Lee, Paul Robeson, Wallace Ford, Henry Wilcoxon, Peter Ruric, and George Barraud

A soldier flees from an unjust criminal conviction and is chased across Africa. 1 videocassette (75 min.)

MEDIA 2-3445

 

Just another girl on the I.R.T 1993

Leslie Harris, Erwin Wilson, Ariyan A Johnson, Kevin Thigpen, and Ebony Jerido

Drama about a teenager coping with life in the projects and sustained by her fierce desire to go to college to become a doctor. 1 videocassette (96 min.)

MEDIA 2-2644

 

Keep the faith, baby 2003

Geoffrey L Garfield,  Monty Ross, Harry Ufland, Art Washington, Doug McHenry, Harry J Lennix, Vanessa Williams, Russell Hornsby, Rufus Crawford, Naomi Gaskin, Larry Marshall, Sean McCann, Lance Reddick, Paramount Pictures Corporation, and Showtime Entertainment

Based on the true story of Adam Clayton Powell, a larger-than-life wartime congressman with an unconventional style. He started out as a preacher, but with his passion for justice, he led an impressive two-decade career - shaking up Congress with his gutsy determination to spearhead a movement that aimed to make life better for African Americans everywhere. He was eventually thrown out of Congress on charges of misconduct. 1 videodisc (ca. 106 min.)

DANA 86

 

Killer of sheep 1978

Charles Burnett, Henry Gayle Sanders, and Kaycee Moore

The film is a moving portrait of Stan, a young black man employed in a Los Angeles slaughterhouse.  His grueling work, gutting and cleaning the carcasses of dead sheep, infects his whole life, including his relationships with his wife, children and friends.  Charles Burnett's compassionate and honest depiction of Stan's story suggests a vast social and historical experience beyond the individual hardship and tragedy of one person. 1 videocassette (79 min.)

DANA. MEDIA 854 2-1852

 

Lady sings the blues 2005

Berry Gordy, Jay Weston, James S White, Terence McCloy, Chris Clark, Suzanne De Passe, Sidney J Furie, Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, James Callahan, Paul Hampton, and Paramount Home Entertainment (Firm)

Diana Ross stars in this musical drama charting the life of Billie Holiday, a life tormented by racism and drug abuse. 1 videodisc (143 min.)

DANA  MEDIA 264   2-1903

 

The Learning tree 1987

Gordon Parks, Kyle Johnson, Alex Clarke, Estelle Evans, and Dona Elcar

A poignant story of a young black man's coming-of-age in Kansas during the 1920's. 1 videocassette (107 min.)

DANA. DANA 588 588

 

Lost boundaries 1996

William Lindsay White, Mel Ferrer, Beatrice Pearson, Susan Douglas, Canada Lee, Richard Hylton, Louis De Rochemont, Alfred Werker, Virginia Shaler, and Eugene Ling

Based on the true story of a light-skinned black family who pass for white in a New Hampshire town. 1 videocassette (99 min.)

MEDIA 2-1807

 

Love & basketball 2004

Gina Prince-Bythewood, Spike Lee, Sam Kitt, Omar Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert, New Line Cinema Corporation, Forty Acres & a Mule Filmworks, and New Line Home Entertainment (Firm)

"From the playground to the pro leagues, Monica and Quijncy taught each other how to play the game. Now, their commitment to the sport will force them to make a choice between each other and the game ... between family and team ... between Love and Basketball"--Container. 1 videodisc (ca. 127 min.)

DANA 444

 

Lying lips 1993, 1939

Oscar Micheaux, Edna Mae Harris, Carmen Newsome, Alfred N Sach, and Robert Earl Jones

The story of a night club singer who is unjustly convicted and sent to prison for the murder of her aunt and the two men who set out to prove her innocence. 1 videocassette (60 min.)

MEDIA 2-2742

 

Mahogany 1991

Berry Gordy, Neil Hartley, John Byrum, Rob Cohen, Jack Ballard, Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Jean Pierre Aumont, Anthony Perkins, and Toni Amber

"Ambitious young secretary becomes a high fashion model and world famous designer."--Container. 1 videocassette (109 min.)

MEDIA 2-3933

 

Menace II society 1993

Tyger Williams, Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, Charles S Dutton, Tyrin Turner, Jada Pickett, and Bill Duke

Directed by twin brothers this critically acclaimed cinematic masterpiece brilliantly details real life in today's tough inner city. 1 videocassette (104 min.)

DANA 944

 

Mo' better blues 2000

Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Joie Susannah Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Dick Anthony Williams, Cynda Williams, Universal Pictures (Firm), Forty Acres & a Mule Filmworks, and Universal Studios Home Video (Firm)

Talented trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed by his music and indecisive about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined. 1 videodisc (140 min.)

DANA 313 v.3

 

Native son 1994/1951

Pierre Chenal, Walter Gould, Jaime Prades, Richard Wright, Willa Pearl Curtiss, Jean Wallace, Gloria Madison, Nicholas Joy, and Richard Wright

Set in Chicago, Native son tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a young black man who accidentally murders his employer's daughter while performing his duties as chauffeur. The combined forces of institutional racism and condescending white liberalism pursue Thomas to an unhappy end. The author plays the leading role in this film version. 1 videocassette (91 min.)

DANA MEDIA 596       2-1972

 

Native son 1996

Diane Silver, Richard Wesley, Jerrold Freedman, Carroll Baker, Akosua Busia, Matt Dillon, Arthur V Evans, John Karlen, Victor Love, Elizabeth McGovern, John McMartin, Geraldine Page, Willard E Pugh, David Rasche, Lane Smith, Oprah Winfrey, and Richard Wright

Set in 1940 Chicago, "Native Son" tells the explosive story of a young poverty-stricken black man who obtains a job as a chauffeur to a wealthy white family. However, tragedy ensues when he accidentally kills his employer's daughter. Vainly trying to cover his act, the eventual discovery of his crime unleashes a savage manhunt fueled by racial hatred and the fury of a white society. 1 videocassette (ca. 111 min.)

DANA 1041

 

New Jack City 1991

Mario Van Peebles, T. Ice, Wesley Snipes, Judd Nelson, Doug McHenry, George Jackson, Thomas Lee Wright, and Barry Michael Cooper

Gangster film about a young, rich, smart drug baron who thinks he's untouchable, and the tough, street-smart cops determined to bring him down. 1 videocassette (101 min.)

MEDIA 2-2761

 

No way out 1997

Sidney Poitier, Joseph L Mankiewicz, Richard Widmark, Linda d Darnell, Stephen McNally, Darryl Francis Zanuck, and Lesser Samuels

When a young African-American doctor operates on two white brothers brought in for gunshot wounds, it sets off a chain of violent confrontations between a vicious psychopath, his gang and the black community. 1 videocassette (106 min.)

DANA  MEDIA 1356  2-6200

 

Nothing but a man 198-?

Michael Roemer, Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Robert M Young, Robert Rubin, Julius W Harris, and Gloria Foster

Duff, a railroad section hand is forced to confront prejudice and self-denial when he falls in love with Josie, an educated preacher's daughter. Story centers around the young black couple as they struggle to live with dignity in a Southern community. The husband is unable to play the subservient role expected of him by both whites and blacks, and is branded as a troublemaker when he tries to maintain his self-respect. 1 videocassette (92 min.)

MEDIA    DANA 2-6426          445

 

The Piano lesson 1998

Charles S Dutton, Alfre Woodard, August Wilson, Carl Gordon, Tommy Hollis, Lou Myers, Courtney B Vance, Lloyd Richards, and August Wilson

In this story of an Afro-American family caught between their heritage and a dream for the future, the Charles family clashes over the fate of a magnificent, carved piano that carries their family's story from their days as slaves. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy a farm--the same fields their family worked as slaves. But his sister, Berniece, refuses to part with it. For her, the piano is their very soul, a legacy of pride and struggle that symbolizes their survival as a family. 1 videocassette (104 min.)

DANA. DANA 975            975

 

Pinky 1994, 1949

Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters, William Lundigan, Elia Kazan, Philip Dunne, Dudley Nichols, Cid Ricketts Sumner, and Darryl Francis Zanuck

Pinky, a black woman who works as a nurse in Boston, finds that she is able to pass for white.  Afraid her true heritage will be discovered, she leaves her white fiance and returns home to Mississippi where she helps her grandmother care for her employer, an imperious plantation owner. When she names Pinky heiress to her estate, the community rises in resentment triggering a sensational court trial. Subject of a landmark Supreme Court case in film censorship, this moving story became itself a battle for human rights. 1 videocassette (102 min.)

MEDIA  2-3733

 

Posse 1993

Mario Van Peebles, Stephen Baldwin, Billy Zane, Sy Richardson, Dario Scardapane, Preston Holmes, and Jim Steele

Western about a mostly black posse who do battle with a pompous, racist colonel, and a vicious white sheriff who wants to take over a peaceful black frontier settlement. 1 videocassette (113 min.)

MEDIA 2-2760

 

Putney Swope 1995, 1969

Robert Downey, Arnold Johnson, Laura Greene, Buddy Butler, Antonio Fargas, and Allen Garfield

A comical satire which charts the rise and fall of a Madison Avenue advertising agency previously controlled by Whites which is taken over by Blacks who are dedicated to the downfall of the White Establishment.  The picture is mostly a parade of vignettes, dealing with people and campaigns of the advertising world. 1 videocassette (85 min.)

MEDIA 2-3589

 

A Raisin in the sun 1987

Lorraine Hansberry, David Susskind, Philip Rose, Daniel Petrie, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, and Claudia McNeil

Film of the award-winning play about a struggling black family living on Chicago's South Side and the impact of an unexpected insurance bequest. Each family member sees the bequest as the means of realizing dreams and of escape from grinding frustrations. 1 videocassette (128 min.)

MEDIA   DANA      MEDIA 10-90       1040            2-1415

 

Sankofa 1993

Nick Medley, Kofi Ghanaba, Oyafumike Ogunlano, and Alexandra Duah

"Sankofa, an Akan word meaning 'one must return to the past in order to move forward,' is the story about the transformation of Mona, a self-possessed African-American woman sent on a spiritual journey in time to experience the pain of slavery and the discovery of her African identity"--Container. 1 videocassette (125 min.)