FemResThe Living Review

Media index

Black FeminismFilms

06
items
01

Films · Sep 2022

The Woman King

Gina Prince-Bythewood

A historical action epic directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, starring Viola Davis. Set against the backdrop of the 19th-century West African Kingdom of Dahomey's all-female warrior regiment, the Agojie, following General Nanisca as she trains a new generation of female warriors to defend the kingdom. The film explores important themes of Black female power, African historical narrative, decolonialism, and women's military leadership.

02

Films · Dec 2016

Hidden Figures

Theodore Melfi

The true story of three African-American female mathematicians who played crucial roles in NASA's space race during the 1960s. They not only had to face racial discrimination but also overcome gender bias, ultimately making indelible contributions to America's aerospace program through their exceptional talents.

03

Films · Mar 2011

I Will Follow

Ava DuVernay

If you can't get something done, do it yourself. Ava DuVernay took this adage to heart and wrote, directed, produced, and financed this family drama about a woman grieving the death of a loved one. It made just a blip on the box office radar, but her debut feature offers a peek at the woman behind the camera.

04

Films · Nov 1996

Set It Off

F. Gary Gray

A crime action film about four African American women from Los Angeles' underclass who team up to rob banks out of desperation. This 1996 classic powerfully depicts the triple oppression of race, class, and gender, as well as the power of female friendship in desperate circumstances, becoming a milestone in Black feminist cinema.

05

Films · Dec 1985

The Color Purple

Steven Spielberg

Whoopi Goldberg brings Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize - winning novel to life as Celie, a Southern Black woman who has suffered abuse for decades. A project brought to a hesitant Steven Spielberg by producer Quincy Jones, the film was the director's first with a female lead.

06

Films · Apr 1974

Foxy Brown

Jack Hill

If you don't yet worship at the altar of Pam Grier, then good lord, what are you waiting for? An action legend who has been shattering glass ceilings for decades, the woman has made a film or television show nearly every single year since 1970. And one of her best is Foxy Brown, a crime classic that has a feminist streak piercing through all its revenge-glory chaos.