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The end of the 1970s saw a great diminution of films by African American
directors. This was particularly the case in Hollywood, for the industry
had committed to the blockbuster model of filmmaking, more or less
abandoning the production of low-to-middle budget films—the range
in which most African American movies were placed. Many of the
established directors moved to television, while still others worked on
direct-to-video releases. A few directors capitalized on the newly
developing youth subculture of hip hop with films like
Beat Street
(Stan Lathan, 1984) and
Krush Groove
(Michael Schultz, 1985), films centered on the music industry. Another
link to popular music was
Under the Cherry Moon
(1986), a black and white feature directed by and starring the musical
artist Prince.
The course of African American filmmaking was redirected, literally, by
the newcomer Spike Lee (b. 1957), who in 1986 saw great success with his
independently produced first feature film,
She's Gotta Have It
, an irreverent look at an African American professional woman and her
romantic relationships. Well-received by critics and audiences,
She's Gotta Have It
, along with
Hollywood Shuffle
(Robert Townsend, 1987), a comedic treatment of Hollywood's
racist production practices, and
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
(Keenan Ivory Wayans, 1988), a parody of blaxploitation films, heralded
a new era in African American filmmaking. The popularity of these three
films, as well as the ascendancy of rap music, opened the door for a new
generation of directors. In 1991 sixteen African
American–directed movies were released theatrically, the most
since the era of the race movie. Those titles included
Jungle Fever
,
New Jack City
,
True Identity
,
The Five Heartbeats
,
House Party II
,
Talkin' Dirty After Dark
,
Hangin' with the Homeboys
,
A Rage in Harlem
,
Chameleon Street
,
Strictly Business
,
Living Large
,
To Sleep with Anger
, and
Up Against the Wall.
It was also the year of release for
Boyz N' the Hood
by John Singleton (b. 1968) and
Straight Out of Brooklyn
by Matty Rich (b. 1971). Both films were tense coming-of-age dramas
about male teens trying to make it out of the ghetto (South Central L.A.
and Red Hook, Brooklyn) and its pervasive cycle of poverty. While
Singleton's film was supported by a major studio (Columbia
Pictures), Rich's film was funded by family credit cards and an
address on a local radio station for investors. Both went on to receive
widespread attention. Singleton became the youngest person ever
nominated for an Oscar
®
for Best Direction, as well as a nominee for Best Original Screenplay.
A number of movies followed in their wake, all featuring young men in
urban locales and focusing on crime, such as
Juice
(1992) and
Menace II Society
(1993), causing many critics to wonder if it was a case of
blaxploitation revisited. In addition, cultural critics lamented the
masculinist perspective of the films, concerned that the films
perpetuated the stereotype of young urban African American males as
crack-dealing gangsters pervasive in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
There was also the issue of presenting a singular construction of
African American communities—ignoring the true diversity of
African American populations.
One film that did diverge from the urban male hegemony was
Daughters of the Dust
(1991) by Julie Dash. The first feature-length film by an African
American woman to be released theatrically, this unique vision, which
took more than twelve years to bring to the screen, is a hypnotic period
drama, set in 1902 on one of the Sea Islands off the East Coast of the
United States. It is a celebration and remembrance of Gullah, a distinct
African American culture that developed during slavery. Because of the
islands' relative isolation, the inhabitants were able to build a
culture more closely linked to that of Africa than were those enslaved
on the mainland. Dash uses this setting and rich cultural tradition to
tell the story of a family that gathers for what may be their last meal
together.
Toward the end of the 1990s, African American film making was no longer
typified by the narrow parameters that defined its renaissance. Haile
Gerima provided a harrowing, much-needed lesson on slavery in
Sankofa
(1994), the most successful self-distributed independent feature of
African American cinema, while Spike Lee with
Malcolm X
in 1992 brought the slain activist to the consciousness of a generation
with no experience of the civil rights movement. This was also the
decade when several women directors came into their own. With
Just
Another Girl on the I.R.T
. (1992), Leslie Harris provided a female perspective on teen life in an
urban locale.
I Like It Like That
1994) by Darnell Martin (b. 1964), the first film directed by an
African American woman to receive studio funding, provides an
interesting tale of a woman who, driven by a family crisis, finally
comes to full selfrealization. Other women directors who would emerge in
the 1990s include Bridgett M. Davis, Alison Swan, DeMane Davis, Cauleen
Smith, and Neema Barnette. Cheryl Dunye directed
Watermelon Woman
, the first African American lesbian feature, in 1996, and in 1997 Kasi
Lemmons delivered a haunting, atmospheric drama,
Eve's Bayou
, the most successful independent film of that year. Chicago-based
George A. Tillman, Jr. (b. 1969),
Saturday, March 16, 2013
New Jack Cinema
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