Mandla (1985)

Watch the vintage South Africa film, MANDLA at FilmDoo

Starring:

• Hector Mantanda
• Popo Gumede
• Kay Magubane
• Dumi Shongwe

Storyline
When two dim-witted petty thieves escape from prison and ransack Mandla’s house, the young boy’s parents believe he and his friend are to blame. Determined to prove their innocence, Mandla and his pal set off in search of the true culprits.

And the Children Shall Lead (1985, TV Movie)

Starring:

• Danny Glover
• Pam Potillo 
• LeVar Burton
• Denise Nicholas 
• Beah Richards 
• Whitman Mayo 
• Amanda Peterson

Storyline
"You can't trust them with voting," says the sheriff about blacks in his community. It is 1964 in the segregated town of Catesville, Mississippi, and Rachel who is black and Jenny who is white are best friends caught up in the firestorm surrounding black voter registration. The adults, both black and white, afraid of the inevitable changes that are surely coming, hang onto the old ways of dealing with their difference. It will take courage and friendship of the two young girls to overcome the racial barriers that divide their community. 

Words By Heart (1985, TV Movie)

Starring:

• Robert Hooks
• Fran Robinson
• Alfre Woodard

Storyline
At the turn of the century, a small, midwestern town is thrown into a heated racial dispute. When a young African American girl, Lena Sillis, wins a local Bible memorization contest, the white community is seething with anger. Things only get worse when her father's hard work and determination earns him a job previously performed by a white man. When the town's rage gets out of control, they lash out at the Sillis family. This family won't be broken though, and in this tale of values and morals, a conflict of color comes to a heart-warming end.

Demons (1985)

Starring:

• Urbano Barberini
• Natasha Hovey
• Karl Zinny

blackhorrormovies.com
One of the most energetic, entertaining, and Hollywood-friendly films of the '70s/'80s Italian horror Renaissance, Demons is also one of the few to feature major black roles, in this case a pimp (Bobby Rhodes) and a hooker (the redundant Geretta Geretta). How refreshing! It's good to know that Italy has stereotypes too.