Race and Gender - Films

The Forty-Year-Old Version

Nearly 40-year-old African American playwright Radha decides to reinvent herself as a rapper after facing setbacks in New York's art world. This semi-autobiographical black-and-white film deeply explores ageism, intersectional oppression of race and gender, artistic autonomy, and middle-aged women's identity reconstruction in male-dominated industries.

查看详情 123 min

2020

USA

The Forty-Year-Old Version

Radha Blank

Drama Comedy Music

Intersectional Feminism Race and Gender +4

Zola

Based on A'Ziah King's viral Twitter story, follows part-time stripper Zola who is convinced by her new friend to go on a road trip to Tampa to earn money dancing, only to get trapped in a sex work situation. This black comedy explores the complex realities of sex work, racial dynamics, female agency, and narrative truth in the social media age through Zola's perspective.

查看详情 90 min

2020

USA

Zola

Janicza Bravo

Comedy Crime Drama

Sex Worker Rights Race and Gender +4

Rocks

The story of East London Black teenage girl Olushola (nicknamed 'Rocks') who must survive independently with her brother Emmanuel after their mother suddenly leaves home, evading social services. This coming-of-age drama showcases deep friendships between girls, urban youth resilience, and the vital role of female mutual aid networks in times of crisis through delicate perspective.

查看详情 93 min

2019

UK

Rocks

Sarah Gavron

Drama Coming-of-Age Social Realism

Female Friendship Youth Rights +4

The Hate U Give

Adapted from Angie Thomas's bestselling novel, follows 16-year-old African American girl Starr's journey from silence to voice after witnessing her friend Khalil being shot by police. This coming-of-age drama deeply explores police violence, systemic racism, Black women's voices and agency, and young women's awakening and growth in social justice movements.

查看详情 133 min

2018

USA

The Hate U Give

George Tillman Jr.

Drama Coming-of-Age Social Issues

Race and Gender Intersectional Feminism +4

Queen of Katwe

Directed by Mira Nair, this biographical drama tells the inspiring true story of Phiona Mutesi, a young girl from the Katwe slum in Kampala, Uganda, who becomes a world-class chess champion. The film explores poverty, gender expectations, and the power of intellectual empowerment in the face of systemic barriers.

查看详情 124 minutes

2016

USA

Queen of Katwe

Mira Nair

Biography Drama Sport

Cross-Cultural Feminism Education Equality +3

The Keeping Room

At the end of the American Civil War, three women living alone on a desolate Southern farm must fight to defend themselves against two rogue soldiers who have broken off from the Union Army. This revisionist feminist western reexamines the brutality of war from a female perspective, exploring complex themes of women's self-defense rights, racial relations, and survival instincts.

查看详情 95 minutes

2014

USA

The Keeping Room

Daniel Barber

Western Drama Thriller

Anti-Sexual Violence Race and Gender +4

Belle

Based on the true story of 18th-century historical figure Dido Elizabeth Belle, this costume drama follows a mixed-race aristocratic woman navigating her place in British high society while fighting for justice amid intersecting racism and sexism. The film explores complex themes of race, class, gender intersectionality, and female agency.

查看详情 104 minutes

2013

UK

Belle

Amma Asante

Drama Biography Historical

Race and Gender Intersectional Feminism +4

Set It Off

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.

查看详情 123 minutes

1996

USA

Set It Off

F. Gary Gray

Crime Action Drama

Black Feminism Female Friendship +4

The Color Purple

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.

查看详情 154 minutes

1985

USA

The Color Purple

Steven Spielberg

Drama Period

Black Feminism Anti-Sexual Violence +4