GIMS DVD/Videotape Collection by Genre: AADS

"The film features 85-year-old Mr. Armstrong, an African American barber in Birmingham, Alabama, as he experiences the manifestation of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president." www.imdb.com

" 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." www.imdb.com

Early in the 20th century Black and Jewish Americans joined forces against bigotry and for civil rights but in the late 1960s each group turned inward and the coalition fell apart. This film examines the history of this collaboration and the recent conflicts between African-Americans and Jews, as well as attempts toward understanding and reconciliation, with particular emphasis on events in New York City and Oakland, California.

A universal story of loss, courage and triumph, this recounts the extraordinary journey of Aminata Diallo, an indomitable African woman who survives in a world in which everything seems to be against her. Kidnapped by slave traders in West Africa then sold into slavery in South Carolina, Aminata navigates her way through the American Revolution in New York, the isolated refuge of Nova Scotia, and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone, before finally securing her freedom in England.

Chronicles America's complicated perceptions of race and crime through the story of the "Central Park 5"--A group of minority teenagers wrongfully convicted and jailed for brutally raping a white woman in New York.

An uneducated woman living in the rural American south who was raped by her father, deprived of the children she bore him and forced to marry a brutal man she calls "Mister" is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable women, acquiring self-worth and the strength to forgive.

" Documentary exploring the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color---particularly dark skinned women, outside of and within the Black American culture." www.imdb.com

"Takes viewers on a disturbing voyage through American history, tracing the evolution of the deeply rooted stereotypes that have fueled anti-Black prejudice. Loyal Toms, carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, grinning Coons, savage Brutes and wide-eyed Pickaninnies roll across the screen in cartoons, feature films, popular songs, advertisements, household artifacts, even children's rhymes. These caricatures permeated popular culture from the 1820s to the Civil Rights era and implanted themselves within the American psyche. Narration by Esther Rolle and commentary by scholars shed light on the origins and devastating consequences of seemingly passive images and their corrosive, dehumanizing effect on society"--Container.

This award-winning program explores the remarkable connections between the Gullah of the South Carolina/Georgia Sea Islands and the people of West Africa, particularly those of Sierra Leone. Taped in South Carolina and Africa, the program traces the truly unparalleled historical connection and continued relationship dating from the time of slavery, and examines the development of the two cultures over the course of time.

"Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression." www.imdb.com

" The story of Jackie Robinson from his signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1945 to his historic 1947 rookie season when he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball." www.imdb.com

" A documentary that chronicles the life of young college professor Angela Davis, and how her social activism implicates her in a botched kidnapping attempt that ends with a shootout, four dead, and her name on the FBI's 10 most wanted list." www.imdb.com

" The purportedly true story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008." www.imdb.com

Presents accounts of racial discrimination faced by the children of immigrants as they seek jobs in modern France. The film suggests several ways to increase employment equity, including affirmative action.

Comedy about Bobby Taylor, a young black actor trying to get a foothold in Hollywood but running into problems of stereotyping at every turn.

A documentary film exploring the history of ownership of farm lands by African Americans from Reconstruction to the present day. Their struggle for land of their own pitted them against both the Southern white power structure and the federal agencies responsible for helping them. As part of Reconstruction, Congress alloted 45 million acres of land to former slaves but little land was ever actually distributed. Despite formidable obstacles one million African Americans, mostly former sharecroppers, managed to purchase over 15 million acres of land by 1910.

"When a disgraced former college professor has a romance with a mysterious younger woman haunted by her dark twisted past, he is forced to confront a shocking secret about his own life that he has kept secret for 50 years." www.imdb.com

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.

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.

" A history of the conflict of the City of Philadelphia and the Black Liberation organization, MOVE, that led to the disastrously violent final confrontation in 1985." www.imdb.com

A documentary film of the life a Khoikhoi woman who was taken from South Africa in 1810 and exhibited as a freak across Britain. The image and ideas for "The Hottentot Venus" (particularly the interest in her sexual anatomy) swept through British popular culture. A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed. In 1814, a year before her death, she was taken to France and became the object of scientific research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality.

" After many years of having worked as a tour guide at the Senegalese slave museum, Alloune decides to go to America in search of his ancestors. They were taken away from his village 200 years ago and sold as slaves in the New World." www.imdb.com

"Living Thinkers ... examines the intersection of race, class and gender for Black women professors and administrators working in U.S. colleges and universities today." container

Based on the true story of a light-skinned black family who pass for white in a New Hampshire town.

" Life story of the controversial African-American leader Marcus Garvey." www.imdb.com

I Have A Dream contains King's entire inspirational speech in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.

Recounts the story of "race" movies produced from 1910 through 1950 and the role played by Oscar Micheaux, the leading African American producer and director. These movies were intended for African Americans, were typically shown at midnight, and presented African Americans in a positive light. Features interviews with African American actors, actresses, filmmakers and historians.

"Two FBI agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists." www.imdb.com

While his cousin relocates his family's ancestral plantation home, film critic Godfrey Cheshire looks into the Hinton family history and discovers an African American branch of the family previously unknown to him. With the help of Africana studies professor Robert Hinton, who also has ancestral ties to Midway Plantation, Cheshire examines the Southern plantation in American history and mythology, and how the racial legacy from the past continues into the present.

Adaptation of the classic novel by 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.

"A documentary about how rapid, voluntary immigration from Africa and the Caribbean is transforming the "African-American" narrative"--Movie trailer.

Prominent black women comment upon experiences of African American women, upon racial discrimination and its effects upon the American culture and make suggestions which they hope will improve the future. Includes historical footage of civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Offers the first comprehensive look at race relations in America between the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. This definitive four-part series documents the context in which the laws of segregation known as the "Jim Crow" system originated and developed.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s historical struggle to secure voting rights for all people. A dangerous and terrifying campaign that culminated with an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1964.

The film's primary focus is on the slave system in which ships from Nantes circled Africa and exchanged goods for black captives who were sold to the French colonies in the New World. Using a mixture of paintings, documents, artifacts and the words of those involved in this cruel system, the film brings the reality of slavery to life for a modern audience.

Despite being born to Afrikaner parents, Sandra faces prejudice from her community due to her dark skin and African features. Torn between her family and the man she loves, Sandra must overcome the racial intolerance of her society in this uplifting true story.

"Slave Routes: Resistance, Abolition and Creative Progress was an international symposium held at New York University from October 9-11, 2008, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade by the United States of America. Distinguished scholars, writers, musicians, visual artists, and organizers from the international community convened at NYU to discuss slavery, the slave trade and its consequences, in plenary, panels, readings, performances, conversations and film/video screenings. Participants included Maya Angelou, Rex Nettleford, Amiri Baraka, Ali Mazrui, Nicole Lee, Randy Weston and many others. This video documents selected scenes from the symposium"--Publisher's website.

Based on the true story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man from New York who was kidnapped in 1841 and forced into slavery in Louisiana.

"In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery." www.imdb.com

"This series of short videos by award-winning documentarian Joanne Burke brings to life the pioneering years of the African American presence in Paris. Each video reveals how France, and Paris in particular, became their bridge from a racially segregated USA to the greater world"--Container.

The amazing biopic of Wilma Rudolph, a woman afflicted by the crippling disease polio, who not only triumphed over her handicap but went on to win 3 consecutive gold medals at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

" A drama that chronicles the life of Winnie Mandela from her childhood through her marriage and her husband's incarceration." www.imdb.com

Four prominent African-American writers each narrate a period in the life of the sociologist and author W.E.B. Du Bois, and describe his impact on their work. They chronicle Du Bois' role as a founder of the NAACP, organizer of the first Pan-African Congress, editor of Crisis, a journal of the black cultural renaissance, and author of a series of landmark sociological studies. Anathematized during the McCarthy years, Du Bois immigrated to Ghana, the first independent African state, where he died.