These 50 Black Directors Influenced The Culture, And The World, And I'm Here To Give Them Their Roses
BuzzFeed
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Don't lie, if I asked you right now how many Black directors you could name off the top of your head you will say Spike Lee and Tyler Perry and think you nailed it. YES, they did big things for the culture but there are dozens more you probably didn't even know directed your favorite movies.
For decades, Black filmmakers have challenged the status quo to create premium cinematic masterpieces that brought Black culture to the forefront. They deserve their flowers.
Juneteenth is about celebrating freedom and Black success and excellence. So, in honor of the holiday, here is my list of 50 Black directors that influenced the culture, and the world!
Peter Ramsey is a director with skills originally suited for the art department of major motion pictures, working as a storyboard artist. In 2018, his second animated feature Spiderman: Into The Spider-Verse made it a solid fact he’s meant to become a full-fledged director of his own productions.
Regina King started out a spunky teenager on the '80s show, 227, followed up by appearances in several '90s Black films alongside famous rappers like Ice Cube and Tupac. King stayed booked and busy only as an actress until 2013 when she began directing television episodes for shows like Being Mary Jane, Scandal, This Is Us, and Insecure, and her first feature film, One Night in Miami.
Eddie Murphy is another case that it doesn’t matter how many films he actually directed, it’s all about the impact on the culture. The accomplished comedian attributes his success to many of the greats that came before him, and as one of the highest-paid and most popular actors of the time, he became a household name for everyone. Believe it or not, he technically only has one directing credit with 1989's, Harlem Nights, starring some of his major influences Richard Pryor, and Redd Foxx.
Chris Rock is one of the most successful comedians in the world getting his start in film as a small-bit player in many popular Black movies in the '80s and '90s. Once he moved into film production and earned starring roles, he took a chance at directing and captivated the audiences as per usual. His successful comedic turns at directing include Head of State (2003), I Think I Love My Wife (2007), and his unforgettable performance also starring in Top Five (2014).
Hype Williams is a permanent fixture in the hip-hop world as one of the most recognizable music video directors working with every major artist from the early '90s to today. He only directed one feature film, Belly (1998), starring rappers Nas and DMX, but his videography spans over four decades.
Denzel Washington followed in the footsteps of Sidney Poitier in every way. Washington stepped into movie roles that took his career into leading roles that transcended boundaries for Black actors in cinema. As did Poitier, Denzel’s turn at directing opened a new avenue for his acting career, appearing in most films he directed. These films include Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), Fences (2016), and A Journal for Jordan (2021).
Albert Hughes is the other half of the brother duo team focused on the Black experience with a few suspenseful depatures. As a team, they focused on the actor’s experience and the technicality of filmmaking. His solo credits include Alpha (2018), and The Good Lord Bird (2020).
Sidney Poitier reset the game when he temporarily exposed the broken system of award shows becoming the first Black man to win an Academy Award in 1964, and the only one until Denzel Washington almost 40 years later. Poitier was a successful comedy director working with comedians Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby in Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Let’s Do It Again (1975), Stir Crazy (1980), and Ghost Dad (1990).
Jordan was a household actor who took the reigns of Dave Chapelle along with his frequent collaborator Keegan-Michael Key and gave us years of comedic gold through the Key & Peele sketch comedy series. He shocked most audiences when he came out of nowhere with his directorial debut, Get Out (2017), earning four Academy Award nominations. All his directed films are written and produced by him, including Us (2019) and Nope, released in the summer of 2022.
Ryan Coolger is leading the charge of the newest generation of Black directors. As one of the youngest, he's already on the radar of every prominent film critic and audience everywhere, beginning with his first feature-length film, Fruitvale Station (2013), starring Michael B. Jordan. He continued to work with Jordan in his following films Creed (2013) and Black Panther (2016), which became the highest-grossing films for a Black director.
22.Ava DuVernay
21.Barry Jenkins
20.Kasi Lemmons
19.Ice Cube
18.Mario Van Peebles
17.Antoine Fuqua
16.Marlon Riggs
As revistas de programação de JUNHO nos Cinemas do IMS Rio/SP. Com Marlon Riggs Mantas Kvedaravičius Maria Augusta Ramos Radu Jean Xadalu Tupã Jekupé Everlane Moraes Daniel Bandeira Emily Jacir José Mojica Marins Pedro Costa Jorge Furtado Eliane Café https://t.co/UOVOf0LaYB
elenarossini.com / This Is What A Film Director Looks Like @ThisIsWhatAFilmDirLooksLike / Via giphy.com
Julie Dash is one of the many great Black filmmakers to study film at UCLA, along with directors like Haile Gerima and Charles Burnett, known as the LA Rebellion. Following several shorts, her feature film Daughters of the Dust (1991) was the first wide-released, full-length film directed by a Black woman. The movie told the stories of women in the southeastern Black community of the United States. She also directed movies for television, including The Rosa Parks Story (2002), Funny Valentines (1999), and the popular '90s Tracy Chapman music video "Give Me One Reason" (1996).
F. Gary Gray might not be a household name outside Black neighborhoods, but everyone is familiar with his work. He began as a notable music video director, including "Ms. Jackson" by Outkast, "Waterfalls" by TLC, and "It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube. He would team up again with Ice Cube for his directorial debut Friday (1995), which set off decades of successful films like The Italian Job (2003), Law Abiding Citizen (2009), Straight Outta Compton (2015), and one of the highest-grossing films of all time, The Fate of the Furious (2017).
10.Keenen Ivory Wayans
9.Gordon Parks Jr.
Curtis Mayfield & Gordon Parks Jr. on the set of Superfly (1972)
Robert Townsend is an established comedian who produced, wrote, and directed the satirical comedy, Hollywood Shuffle, with fellow funnyman and colleague, Keenen Ivory Wayans. It's hard to believe that Saturday Night Live could reject a multi-hyphenate of such talent, but that didn't matter because he went on to direct the iconic stand-up special for the man who got the SNL spot, Eddie Murphy Raw (1987). A few other Townsend gems that are must-sees include The Five Heartbeats (1991), The Meteor Man (1993), B*A*P*S* (1997), and the '90s TV sitcom, The Parent 'Hood (1995–99).
7.Kathleen Collins
Kathleen Collins’ (1942-1988) film LOSING GROUND (1982) was one of the first narrative feature films directed by a Black woman to be released in the U.S.@jasminprix interviewed Collins’ daughter, Nina Lorez Collins, about preserving her mother’s legacy: https://t.co/PN1py8SqHN
John Singleton is a Los Angeles native director who adapted his own experiences as a Black man to tell a story of a community once ignored by popular cinema. At 25 years old, his first directorial debut with Boyz n the Hood (1991) earned him an Academy Award nomination making him the youngest and first Black person to be nominated. The late John Singleton's legacy includes the films Poetic Justice (1993), Rosewood (1997), Baby Boy (2001), and the iconic 1992 Michael Jackson music video, "Remember the Time."
Spike Lee is one of the most prolific American directors who pulled no punches when discussing racism, crime, poverty, and colorism in the Black community. His stylistic filmmaking and culturally significant "Spike Lee Joints" became top-rated films in cinematic history. Through his production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, he has produced critically acclaimed films, including Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), Inside Man (2006), BlacKkKlansman (2018), and Da 5 Bloods (2020).
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