#blackcinema

Even though Black Girl was released in 1966, its themes continue to feel deeply relevant today. The film reflects ongoing conversations about immigrant labor, racism, displacement, and the burden placed on Black women. Diouana’s story is not simply about one woman’s suffering. It represents larger systems of inequality that continue to shape people’s lives across different societies and generations.

Throughout this course, we watched many films where Black women were either stereotyped, hypersexualized, silenced, or forced to constantly prove themselves. What makes Black Girl unforgettable is that Diouana barely speaks loudly at all but her pain, isolation, and humanity become impossible to ignore. Rather than relying on dramatic action, Sembène forces the audience to sit with silence, discomfort, and emotional isolation. Through Diouana’s experience, the film critiques colonialism while also questioning how Black women continue to be represented and treated within media and society. Decades later, Black Girl remains powerful because its message about visibility, identity, labor, and humanity still resonates today.

Mini-Review: Hair Love

Slipped Matthew A. Cherry's Hair Love into this week's rotation—dad versus daughter's coils on big hair day, a ritual as tense as any heist flick.

Those curls don't just move; they dance under his hands, every twist a map of tenderness, heritage bouncing frame by frame. Hot take: in seven minutes, it wrings more generational ache than most 'prestige' dramas twice the length.

Watch in the theater all week.

I shot and edited a comedy-drama feature called "What Now Mama" and you should check it out.

The story: A strong mother fights to keep her fractured family together through faith and love as they face rebellion, betrayal, and life-altering challenges that test their bonds. Music and the joy of being together lifts the family up in the face of adversity.

Go to http://WhatNowMamaMovie.com

"What Now Mama" was written and directed by Lisa Howard McNeal and produced by Melvin McNeal. It stars Darrell Wilson, Tasha Robinson, Preston Butler III, Jasmine Morgan, Jacqueleen Brooks, Sarah Davenport, Maiesha Kif, Brandon Howard, LaVelle Wilson, Pastor Wayne Bracket, and Rashan Patterson. Music by Michael Washington and Dre Howard/Elyte. Editing and cinematography by Emmett Loverde.

✨ Weekend Picks: Books + Film ✨

📚 Sistah Scifi Graphic Novel Club Brielle and Bear by Salomey Doku 🗓 February 28, 2026 ⏰ 4:00–5:30 PM PST 💻 Online (sistahscifi.com/pages/events) A modern Beauty & the Beast retelling set at a university—romance, secrets, and fairytale twists.

🎬 Black Arc: Bending Memory + Vision 🗓 February 28, 2026 📍 ARRAY Creative Campus, Los Angeles 🎟 Free with RSVP Visionary films by @cauleen_smith, Michelle Parkerson, Lisa Collins & Zeinabu Irene Davis interrogating the American Dream through bold, genre-bending storytelling.

🖤🎬 UPCOMING RELEASE ALERT 🎬🖤

I Love Boosters (2026) Directed by @BootsRiley 🎥 In theaters May 22

Booster: someone who steals clothes from a store and sells them at a discount.

Also known as… community service. Enter The Velvet Gang, a crew of professional shoplifters with taste, precision, and a target: a cutthroat fashion maven who’s built an empire on exploitation and image.

This isn’t a heist for thrills. It’s redistribution. It’s satire with teeth.

It’s Boots Riley doing what Boots Riley does best, turning capitalism inside out and asking who really profits.

This clip from the comedy-drama feature "What Now Mama" stars Sarah Davenport and Lisa Howard McNeal. Watch it now at http://WhatNowMamaMovie.com or on Tubi, Amazon, Reveel, blackEX, Xumo, Fawesome, Plex, Relay, and many others.

The story: A strong mother fights to keep her fractured family together through faith and love as they face rebellion, betrayal, and life-altering challenges that test their bonds. Music and the joy of being together lifts the family up in the face of adversity.

"What Now Mama" was written and directed by Lisa Howard McNeal and produced by Melvin McNeal. It stars Darrell Wilson, Tasha Robinson, Preston Butler III, Jasmine Morgan, Jacqueleen Brooks, Sarah Davenport, Maiesha Kif, Brandon Howard, LaVelle Wilson, Pastor Wayne Bracket, and Rashan Patterson.

Music by Michael Washington and Dre Howard/Elyte.