Beyonce, Eddie Murphy star in Milwaukee Film's Black History Month movie lineup

Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
Beyoncé performs onstage at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Renaissance World Tour. "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé," a behind-the-scenes look at the tour, kicks of Milwaukee Film's Black History Month programming Feb. 1 at the Oriental Theatre.
Beyoncé performs onstage at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Renaissance World Tour. "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé," a behind-the-scenes look at the tour, kicks of Milwaukee Film's Black History Month programming Feb. 1 at the Oriental Theatre.
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Milwaukee Film's lineup of Black History Month movies at the Oriental Theatre includes a mix of celebrity, horror and history.

The month of movies celebrating the Black experiences starts Feb. 1 with a screening of "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé," the behind-the-scenes concert movie recounting the music and cultural icon's tour from start to finish.

Halle Berry and Eddie Murphy star in "Boomerang," the ahead-of-its-time 1992 romantic comedy.
Halle Berry and Eddie Murphy star in "Boomerang," the ahead-of-its-time 1992 romantic comedy.

Other highlights in the lineup, curated by Milwaukee Film's Black Lens program, include "Boomerang," the first-rate 1992 romantic comedy starring Eddie Murphy, Robin Givens, Eartha Kitt and Halle Berry; the acclaimed 2022 horror-thriller "Nanny," with Anna Diop; and "Invisible Beauty," an award-winning documentary about pioneering Black model Bethann Hardison.

Anna Diop (left, with Michelle Monaghan) plays a Senegalese immigrant working as a nanny in New York City who's unnerved by violent visions as a visit from her son comes closer in the horror-thriller "Nanny."
Anna Diop (left, with Michelle Monaghan) plays a Senegalese immigrant working as a nanny in New York City who's unnerved by violent visions as a visit from her son comes closer in the horror-thriller "Nanny."

The series closes Feb. 29 with "Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land," a 2023 documentary exploring the causes and solutions behind the dwindling amount of Black-owned farmland across the country.

"This film series is dedicated to the theme of reclamation — reclaiming ourselves, our stories, our genres, and our vibrant futures,” filmmaker and Black Lens programmer Marquise Mays said in a statement from Milwaukee Film.

The full lineup for Milwaukee Film's Black History Month (tickets are $12, unless noted otherwise):

Feb. 1: 7 p.m., "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé" ($22).

Feb. 3: noon, "The 50," a documentary about a revolutionary program training prison inmates to be substance abuse counselors behind bars.

Feb. 8: 7 p.m., "Boomerang," with a post-screening discussion.

Feb. 10: noon, "Treasured Heirlooms," a program of short films showing Black people around the world working to preserve their cultural heritage.

Feb. 15: 7 p.m. "Nanny," with a post-screening discussion.

Feb. 17: noon, "Invisible Beauty."

Feb. 20: 7 p.m., "Girl," in which a mother and daughter cling to each other for support and survival.

Feb. 24: noon, "Know Your Place," in which a teenage Eritrean American boy has to make his way across a gentrifying Seattle to deliver a heavy suitcase being sent to a sick family member in his parents' homeland.

Feb. 29: 7 p.m., "Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land."

For tickets and more info, go to mkefilm.org.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Beyonce leads Milwaukee Film's Black History Month movie lineup