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The 25 Best Movies by Black Directors

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W

Walpurgis

Banned
"You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there," said actress Viola Davis last fall as she became the first black woman to win a best lead actress (drama) Emmy trophy. But what goes for the increasingly diversifying (relatively speaking) small screen is amplified on the big screen, where even excellent work can go unrecognized.

But even getting that work can be a challenge, for both black actors and directors. Especially directors. Last year, for example, not a single black filmmaker was entrusted by a Hollywood studio to direct a film with a production budget exceeding $35 million. (Even African American-themed films don't necessarily wind up in the hands of African American directors.) And it's not just Hollywood; the scarcity of opportunities for black film directors even extends to other countries. Many top black directors, including Ernest R. Dickerson, Paris Barclay, Reginald Hudlin, Anthony Hemingway, and Debbie Allen, appear to have an easier time finding work in television rather than film.

Obviously, the lack of opportunities for black directors is not due to a lack of talent. To highlight some of that talent, we've identified the best-reviewed films (ranked by Metascore) from black directors released over the past two and a half decades.
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12 Years a Slave (2013) 97 MC
Directed by Steve McQueen
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The English director's third feature isn't just the best-reviewed film by a black filmmaker in the past 25 years; it's #4 out of all films released this century, ranked by Metascore. An adaptation of Solomon Northup's 1853 account of being kidnapped as a free man and sold into slavery in the South, 12 Years also scored big on the awards circuit in 2013 on its way to becoming the only film by a black director to win the best picture Oscar. McQueen collected an Oscar as a producer of the film, but he lost out in the director race to Gravity's Alfonso Cuarón. To date, no black director has ever won an Oscar.
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Timbuktu (2014) 92 MC
Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako
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The best-reviewed foreign-language film released in the U.S. last year, Timbuktu is just the fourth film from sub-Saharan Africa (and the first by a black director) to receive an Oscar nomination. The film, which depicts the occupation of a portion of Mali by the militant Islamist group Ansar Dine, competed for a number of awards around the globe, with Mauritanian native Abderrahmane Sissako becoming the first black director to win a César, France's equivalent to the Academy Awards.
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Moolaadé (2004) 91 MC
Directed by Ousmane Sembène
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A fictional look at one African village's rebellion against female genital mutilation, Moolaadé is the final film from Senegalese writer-director Ousmane Sembène, who died in 2007 after a film career spanning five decades that earned him the nickname "the father of African film." The 2015 documentary Sembene! examines the filmmaker's remarkable life story.
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4 Little Girls (1997) 89 MC
Directed by Spike Lee
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Spike Lee may be the biggest household name on this list, thanks in no small part to being one of the most prolific filmmakers of the past three decades, but even he has been ignored by the Academy. Lee has never won a non-honorary Oscar, and he's never been nominated as a director. In fact, his most recent nomination in any category came way back in 1998 for this documentary about a 1963 church bombing in Alabama. It's actually Lee's second-best-reviewed film to date, behind only 1989's Do the Right Thing.
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Selma (2014) 89 MC
Directed by Ava DuVernay
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The highest-scoring narrative film from an African-American filmmaker in the past 25 years, Selma is the third feature from the increasingly influential Ava DuVernay, and it recounts the 1965 voting rights marches led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and fellow activists. Oprah Winfrey became the first black female producer to receive a best picture Oscar nomination, though the film lost in that race to Birdman. (DuVernay, meanwhile, wasn't even nominated for an Oscar, though she did become the first black woman director to receive a Golden Globe nomination.)
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Gideon's Army (2013) 87 MC
Directed by Dawn Porter
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This award-winning debut feature from documentarian Dawn Porter offers a stark, eye-opening portrait of three overworked, black public defenders in the South.
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One False Move (1992) 87 MC
Directed by Carl Franklin
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One of actor-turned-director Carl Franklin's first features, the noirish thriller One False Move was originally intended to be a straight-to-video release, but turned out so well that it wound up in theaters instead, appearing on several year-end top 10 lists in 1992. Generally considered an overlooked cult classic these days, the film features the first major acting appearance by Billy Bob Thornton (who also co-wrote the script) and also stars Bill Paxton and Cynda Williams.
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Fruitvale Station (2013) 85 MC
Directed by Ryan Coogler
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Creed director Ryan Coogler's excellent debut feature recounts the racially charged 2009 killing of an unarmed 22-year-old man at an Oakland rail station by a transit cop. The film, which (like Creed) stars Michael B. Jordan, swept both major awards at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and also earned Coogler another award at Cannes later that year
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Big Words (2013) 82 MC
Directed by Neil Drumming
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This low-budget indie drama—the debut from Neil Drumming—follows three former members of a short-lived hip-hop group (and one-time friends) as events bring them together for the first time in 15 years. Appropriately enough for a film titled Big Words, critics praised the dialogue, also by Drumming.
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Creed (2015) 82 MC
Directed by Ryan Coogler
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Reuniting the aforementioned Coogler with his Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan, Creed is the best Rocky film since ... well, Rocky itself. It's also one of two major examples (along with Straight Outta Compton) cited by the recent #OscarsSoWhite movement, as the critically acclaimed (and financially successful) drama received just one Academy Award nomination: for white co-star Sylvester Stallone.
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http://www.metacritic.com/pictures/25-best-movies-by-black-directors?ref=hp

The remaining 15 are in the link.
 
H

HyperZone<3

Member
Carl Franklin should be having a much better career. The guy has been missing in action for years.

Black Dynamite missing from list.
 
n64coder

n64coder

Member
Was surprised that Spike Lee only had one in the top 25. Thanks for the list. Will have to check out the ones I haven't seen yet.
 
F

Fat4all

Banned
I'd prefer an objective list than just a straight "in order of RT score" list, but this does highlight some movies I've yet to see.
 
T

tearsintherain

Member
Honest dumb question - why can't 10 of the top black superstars put together $500m, start a studio that emphasizes black artists, and go on to create a self sustaining environment? Oprah, Will Smith, Michael Jordan, etc wouldn't even have to put in a ton of money as I'm sure a lot of rich people would see it as a great investment.

No slave or history movies, just regular movies that everyone would want to watch (Fast and Furious clones, Deadpool type movies, Avatar-esque, etc) but with black and other minorities in the important roles, behind the camera and in front.
 
S

soundscream

Member
n64coder said:
Was surprised that Spike Lee only had one in the top 25. Thanks for the list. Will have to check out the ones I haven't seen yet.
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Do the right thing has a score of 91, so not only is the articles title misleading its also incorrect by its own standards.
 
F

Fat4all

Banned
tearsintherain said:
Honest dumb question - why can't 10 of the top black superstars put together $500m, start a studio that emphasizes black artists, and go on to create a self sustaining environment? Oprah, Will Smith, Michael Jordan, etc wouldn't even have to put in a ton of money as I'm sure a lot of rich people would see it as a great investment.
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Dunno. Maybe not all successful black people want to pool together to form a studio? Maybe there's certain union laws or monopoly laws when it comes to the entertainment industry?

This is just blind guesses on my end.

soundscream said:
Do the right thing has a score of 91, so not only is the articles title misleading its also incorrect by its own standards.
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Yeah, what's up with that?
 
S

soundscream

Member
tearsintherain said:
Honest dumb question - why can't 10 of the top black superstars put together $500m, start a studio that emphasizes black artists, and go on to create a self sustaining environment? Oprah, Will Smith, Michael Jordan, etc wouldn't even have to put in a ton of money as I'm sure a lot of rich people would see it as a great investment.

No slave or history movies, just regular movies that everyone would want to watch (Fast and Furious clones, Deadpool type movies, Avatar-esque, etc) but with black and other minorities in the important roles, behind the camera and in front.
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There is also the distribution problem. There was a great Hollywood reporter video about this subject let me see of I can find it.
 
H

hodayathink

Member
n64coder said:
Was surprised that Spike Lee only had one in the top 25. Thanks for the list. Will have to check out the ones I haven't seen yet.
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At first I was thinking Spike's best stuff is too old to have a decent amount of reviews on Metacritic, and then I saw that Malcolm X was at a 72. Wow.

Seesaw15 said:
No Inside Man? Get the fuck out of here
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Inside Man has a 76 on Metacritic. Sometimes I forget how divisive Spike is among critics.

Montresor said:
The list is sorely lacking Antoine Fuqua movies.

No Training Day? No Southpaw?
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Training Day is at 70. What he hell.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
tearsintherain said:
Honest dumb question - why can't 10 of the top black superstars put together $500m, start a studio that emphasizes black artists, and go on to create a self sustaining environment? Oprah, Will Smith, Michael Jordan, etc wouldn't even have to put in a ton of money as I'm sure a lot of rich people would see it as a great investment.

No slave or history movies, just regular movies that everyone would want to watch (Fast and Furious clones, Deadpool type movies, Avatar-esque, etc) but with black and other minorities in the important roles, behind the camera and in front.
Click to expand...

I hate to say it but I'm sure a lot of them just don't give a shit. Smith has already shown multiple times that he seems detached from reality except maybe the time he admitted he might have been too hands off on raising his kids.

Jordan might be a similar case. He made his money and his mark on history and might be do comfortable in his position being loved by so many that he doesn't want to rock the boat.
 
S

Snowman Prophet of Doom

Member
"Shame" is the best Steve McQueen movie thus far and not even on the list, but if it's based on RT scores, that's nobody's fault but the dumbass critics rating the movies in the first place, really.
 
W

Walpurgis

Banned
I've only seen Creed on this list. Incredible film. I should probably get on 12 Years a Slave but I missed it on Netflix.
Seesaw15 said:
No Inside Man? Get the fuck out of here
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I really don't care for that movie. I thought I would like it based off the premise but the main character's arrogance pissed me off. I wanted the villains to win.
 
S

soundscream

Member
Walpurgis said:
I've only seen Creed on this list. Incredible film. I should probably get on 12 Years a Slave but I missed it on Netflix.

I really don't care for that movie. I thought I would like it based off the premise but the main character's arrogance pissed me off. I wanted the villains to win.
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But they weren't really the villains, the Banker was
 
B

Bleepey

Member
tearsintherain said:
Honest dumb question - why can't 10 of the top black superstars put together $500m, start a studio that emphasizes black artists, and go on to create a self sustaining environment? Oprah, Will Smith, Michael Jordan, etc wouldn't even have to put in a ton of money as I'm sure a lot of rich people would see it as a great investment.

No slave or history movies, just regular movies that everyone would want to watch (Fast and Furious clones, Deadpool type movies, Avatar-esque, etc) but with black and other minorities in the important roles, behind the camera and in front.
Click to expand...

Very true. I remember reading John Singleton I think telling Ice Cube that if he wants roles he better write them, why not say if you want roles you better fund them. You can't argue there isn't a market for it.
 
U

User 479360

Banned
I've only seen Creed and Precious. The first was great, the second was decent.

There are a couple of others on the list that I'd like to see.
 
B

Bleepey

Member
soundscream said:
There is also the distribution problem. There was a great Hollywood reporter video about this subject let me see of I can find it.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the necrobump, but I listened to the HR video but it doesn't mention why black celebrities and businessman haven't created another
 
K

kswiston

Member
Metacritic and Rottentomatoes have undergone score inflation in recent years, so I am not sure that is the method I would have gone with to pick the top 25 films by black directors.

The no film over $35M budget by black directors in 2015 stat is pretty crazy though.

I am having a hard time thinking of big budget films by black directors ever now. Fuqua had King Arthur in 2004 ($120M) and a bunch of mid-budget stuff. Singleton's biggest was Four Brothers (~100M). I don't think Spike Lee has ever worked with a major budget. Ditto for Tyler Perry.

Unless I am missing something major, Black Panther might be the most expensive project to be handled by a black director.

EDIT: We were having a conversation last week about how Latinos and Asians have even poorer representation in Hollywood as actors in major movie roles, but at least they are able to direct films with a budget beyond what Hollywood deems fitting for an "urban" film.

EDIT 2: Actually, thinking about Justin Lin and James Wan made me remember that F. Gary Gray is directing Fast 8 now. That will beat Black Panther to release, and will probably have a budget over $150M.
 
C

CaviarMeths

Member
Maan, I haven't seen a single damn one of those 25 and have only seen one of the films in "other" (Spike Lee's Inside Man). =/

I really need to diversify my shit. One False Move looks like it would be right up my ally, but I'll probably start with 12 Years a Slave and Selma.
 
V

Vice

Member
hodayathink said:
At first I was thinking Spike's best stuff is too old to have a decent amount of reviews on Metacritic, and then I saw that Malcolm X was at a 72. Wow.



Inside Man has a 76 on Metacritic. Sometimes I forget how divisive Spike is among critics.


Training Day is at 70. What he hell.
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Movie reviewers use the whole scale more often. Same for music.
 
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