I was over in the U.S. a few weeks back and saw this really interesting and impressive documentary on HBO.
In “The Black List“ 22 prominet Afro-Americans tell their own story and reveal insights into the struggles, triumphs and joys of black life in the United States. Each of them speaks for approx. 4-5 minutes and is filmed in front of a simple grey screen.
Video: HBO – “The Black List – Making of” – 2:36 min
Renowned portrait photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, directed, and award winning journalist Elvis Mitchell interviewed the following complete list of people and put the piece together:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball legend
- Sean Combs, musician
- Mahlon Duckett, Negro Leagues baseball star
- Thelma Golden, museum curator
- Lou Gossett, Jr., actor
- Bill T. Jones, choreographer
- Vernon Jordan, attorney
- Marc Morial, former New Orleans mayor
- Toni Morrison, author
- Suzan-Lori Parks, playwright
- Richard Parsons, executive
- Colin Powell, former Secretary of State
- Susan Rice, political strategist
- Chris Rock, comedian
- Al Sharpton, activist
- Lorna Simpson, artist
- Slash, musician
- Dawn Staley, basketball star
- Faye Wattleton, former Planned Parenthood president
- Keenen Ivory Wayans, actor
- Serena Williams, tennis star
- Zane, author
If you click on the links they will take you to some of the video pieces. In addition here is the trailer.
Video: HBO – “The Black List – Trailer” – 0:57 min
The documentary also is the hub of the “The Black List Project“:
“The project celebrates the diverse experiences of being black in America and maximizes the power of these stories through a range of activities, including: a traveling museum exhibition of photographic portraits, organized by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; an upcoming book of photographs and interviews, published by Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster, New York; and a national interactive, curriculum-based educational program. “The Black List Project” is produced by Freemind Ventures, a New York-based media collective, and is the pilot program to the larger Freemind initiative “One Million Stories.”
I really like this documentary as it covers members of the Afro-American community from so many different lines of work. From what I understand HBO is working on a Volume two that will have more political and also social leaders in it. Looking forward to that!
Check out: http://www.blacklistproject.com/
(Source: HBO.com)
Recent Comments