Today starts Black History Month! Now, before I start let me just say that one should celebrate their "blackness" 365 days of the year, not just for one month. You should always be educating yourself about your people, your history, your struggles, your achievments, legends, etc.
IMDB says : Footage shot by a group of Swedish journalists documenting the Black Power Movement in the United States is edited together by a contemporary Swedish filmmaker.
Amazon says: During the rise of The Black Power Movement in the 60 s and 70 s, Swedish Television journalists documented the unfolding cultural revolution for their audience back home, having been granted unprecedented access to prominent leaders such as Angela Davis, the SNCC's Stokely Carmichael, and Black Panthers founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Now, after more than 30 years in storage, this never-before-seen footage spanning nearly a decade of Black Power is finally available. Director Goran Hugo Olsson presents this mixtape, highlighting the key figures and events in the movement, as seen in a light completely different than the narrative of the American media at the time. Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Abiodun Oyewole, John Forte, and Robin Kelley are among the many important voices providing narration and commentary, adding modern perspective to this essential time capsule of African-American history
Note: this footage was also lost in the archives of Sweden for 30 years !!!
I really, really, really, enjoyed watching this documentary. It was engaging and also informative. I was complaining the other day about how so many filmmakers try to make re-imaginings or retell stories of black history, along with default black actors in Hollywood, but end up doing a very poor job ! I don't think people realize just HOW MUCH footage is out there documenting The Black Power Movement, The Civil Rights Movement, etc. There was always someone there caputuring each momement, whether with words, photographs or film.
So why not just make documentary-type films using said footage instead of paying some actor who might not do as well. I think it would be much more powerful to see actual footage. Now, don't get me wrong, some actors, actresses, and producers have done GREAT jobs and I am in no way trying to discredit that. I just think that for movements such as these it would be more powerful to see actual footage. I will speak more on this though when I post the 2nd film feature.
For now though I hope that you all will check out The Black Power Mixtape. Here's a little snippet ! Enjoy !
Feel free to come back and let me know your thoughts and opinions on the documentary !
I hope you enjoyed the first post for Black History Month !
Sources : IMDB.com YouTube.com Amazon.com
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