10 films for those who want to know more about the problem of racism in the USA

In late May, a new wave of Black Lives Matter protests erupted in the United States. The reason was the death of African-American George Floyd, who was strangled during detention. Tens of thousands of people across the country and abroad marched against police brutality and racism. Edition Esquire compiled a list of 10 films of black directors who reveal the problem of systemic racism in the United States.

Do the Right Thing / Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee's most high-profile work, a 1989 masterpiece about the life of a dark-skinned quarter in Brooklyn and racist sentiment growing under the scorching New York sun. Starring Spike Lee himself, Danny Aiello, Ossi Davis and Ruby Dee. “Do it right!” dedicated to victims of police brutality. The film is included in the National Register of Films and is twice nominated for an Oscar.

Thirteenth / 13th

13th is Ava Duvernay’s documentary for Netflix, which clearly demonstrates how the US prison system works, especially for the country's black population. The title of the film refers to the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which abolished slavery, but led to the emergence of a new form of use of forced labor and racial segregation. In his film, Duverney sheds light on corruption in the correctional system, on deep-rooted racism in the political elite of the country. Thirteenth was nominated for an Oscar and received an Emmy.

“I Am Not Your Negro” / I Am Not Your Negro

James Baldwin has dedicated his life to covering the issue of racism in America. The documentary "I am not a Negro" tells the story of a man who could not finish his job. Baldwin died before completing his memoirs Remember This House - memories of civil rights activists Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Baldwin’s texts are read by Samuel L. Jackson, and the writer himself appears in the film in archived television interview recordings embedded in the narrative.

Fences

The plays of the playwright August Wilson, who died in 2005, remain one of the best illustrations of modern American life. Denzel Washington undertook to popularize his heritage, adapting his plays for the screen, playing major roles in them and restoring his house in Pittsburgh. The Fences were filmed there - a film based on the 1983 Wilson play from the Pittsburgh Cycle, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987. The action takes place in America in the 1950s and tells about the discrimination faced by the Maxson family.

Fruitvale Station

In 2009, in the California city of Auckland, a traffic police officer pressed the head of 22-year-old Oscar Grant to the asphalt, and then shot him. Grant passed away the next day. The incident was shot by eyewitnesses, and the video scattered across the network, provoking a wave of protests long before the Black Lives Matter movement appeared. The tragic story of a young African American was filmed in his directorial debut, Ryan Kugler, and the main role was played by the star of Black Panther Michael B. Jordan.

12 Years a Slave / 12 Years a Slave

Oscar for the best film based on the memoirs of Solomon Northup of 1853. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Northrop, a free black from New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The film talks about 12 years of overwork on a southern plantation and Northrop’s attempts to escape. Steve McQueen's directorial work has been recognized as one of the best films of the year for his fearless view of the violence and abuse that black Americans have been exposed to on plantations.

Get Out / Get Out

Jordan Peale uses the horror genre to illustrate the cruelty of racism in his unsurpassed directorial debut. Daniel Kaluya plays Chris, a black man who has a troubling secret when he and his white girlfriend go to visit her parents. A funny, frightening and harsh criticism of racial relations in America, “Off” showed how you can talk about a familiar problem in a new way.

“If Beale Street Could Talk” / If Beale Street Could Talk

An insightful story based on the 1974 James Baldwin novel of the same name. Tish and Fonni are a Harlem couple whose bright future ends when Fonnie is arrested for a crime that he did not commit - he was set up by a racist policeman. The Barry Jenkins film covers the criminal justice system through Fonny's lawsuit. Meanwhile, Tish is pregnant, and her pious relatives perceive this as a curse, because Tony cannot marry her during her imprisonment. This is a piercing love story that even the prison system cannot break.

Selma / Selma

Ava Duverney’s historical drama about Martin Luther King’s marches and John Lewis’s politician in support of black rights in Selm and Montgomery 1965. The film on the struggle against the lack of rights of black Americans also covers the events on the Edmund Pettus bridge, which remained in history as “Bloody Sunday” - on March 7, 1965, hundreds of demonstrators demanding black suffrage tried to cross the bridge during a march from Selma to Montgomery, but were brutally beaten by local police. A lot of time has passed since the events of those years, but Lews still stands in Congress for the rights of blacks. Watching this film you begin to understand how few changes have occurred in half a century.

“Another's hatred” / The Hate U Give

Based on Angie Thomas’s popular teenage novel, Alien Hate focuses on police abuse and racism affecting more than adults. 16-year-old Starr Carter lives in a black ghetto and attends a white prep school. Everything changes when her childhood friend is killed at a bus stop right in front of her. Starr, who has lived two lives all her conscious life - in one she is an ordinary dark-skinned girl from a poor quarter, in the other - a student in a decent white school - is forced to grow up sharply and choose her future path. “Alien Hate” is the most suitable picture to tell children and adolescents about racism and cruelty by the police.