Black Excellence within the Black Experience of TV and Film
In 1972, filmmaker William Greaves did something no history book could: he gathered the surviving legends of the Harlem Renaissance in Duke Ellington’s Harlem home, poured the drinks, and let the cameras roll. Painters, poets, journalists, and musicians who hadn’t seen each other in decades laughed, argued, and remembered the movement they built together. Then […]
Let me just say it first: I loved it. 10 out of 10. I’ll be back every year Imani and her team will have me. The purpose of a conference or convention, to me, is to give you the opportunity to be in a room with people you would not normally be around on a […]
She’s one of the most recognizable faces in Black television. He’s the first African American screenwriter to write a $100 million blockbuster. Together, they’re building something most people in Hollywood told them couldn’t sell. Erika Alexander and Tony Puryear sit down to talk about Concrete Park, the sci-fi graphic novel series they’ve been building together […]
⚠️ Spoiler alert: This interview discusses Crew Girl Season 1. When Thomas Cadrot taped his audition for Netflix’s Crew Girl, he felt good about the work. What he didn’t feel good about were his chances. “My first reaction, honestly, was they’re gonna give this to a white dude,” he says. “When’s the last time you’ve […]
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again? brings the beloved friend group back together, nineteen years after the original Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and sixteen years after its 2010 sequel, for a destination wedding in Italy. Marcus (Michael Jai White) and Angela’s (Tasha Smith) daughter Jasmine (Armani Greer) is marrying Wesley (Everett […]
Tommy Davidson is stepping back into the spotlight, this time as the lead of his own show. The Varnell Hill Show, a long-in-the-works spinoff of Martin Lawrence’s beloved ’90s sitcom Martin, premieres September 1 on Paramount+ with two episodes, followed by new installments weekly through October 13. Davidson stars as Varnell Hill, a late-night talk […]
Food for the Soul is an enjoyable watch, warm and occasionally funny without ever making light of the cultural tensions at its center. Screened at MVAAFF, Chisom Chieke’s 18-minute short follows Ada (Karen Obilom), a Nigerian-American artist and medical school dropout, and Trey (Marcus Scribner), her Black-American fiancé and game creator, as their relationship brings […]
Love Song is a film where I understand exactly what the writer-director is trying to do, but unfortunately, it never quite landed for me. The premise is compelling: a married music producer runs into a former flame during his morning commute, forcing him to confront family, creative ambition and a love he left behind. There […]
Please Return Your Carts, which screened at the 2026 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival is the kind of short that makes you appreciate how much can be said through one really smart creative choice. Directed by Kendra Jo, the 2025 short follows Benson Cross (Russell Hornsby), an Army veteran who has settled into a solitary […]
Au Gratin opens the way a lot of real family gatherings do: chaotically. Ericka (Tiffany Daniels), the youngest of the siblings, gets to her mother’s house first. She goes to wake her mom up and realizes something’s wrong, maybe seriously wrong. And before she can even get a full sentence out about it, the rest […]