Happy Black History Month! Black Lives Matter and art has a role to play in centering and celebrating the experiences of Black people.

Starting this month, and then on an ongoing basis, we will list everything that’s Black and streaming on the Criterion Channel.

First up: Let’s take a voyage through the Afrofuturism series programmed by @_Ash_Clark. Our exploration will take us through an international journey of Black vision, creativity, and freedom. https://www.criterionchannel.com/afrofuturism 

SPACE IS THE PLACE (1974) dir. John Coney

In this must-watch musical drama, Sun Ra and his Arkestra lead an intergalactic movement to resettle the Black race on their utopian space colony. https://www.criterionchannel.com/space-is-the-place

THE LAST ANGEL OF HISTORY (1996) dir. John Akomfrah

This freewheeling essay film is a good place to start on your journey through Afrofuturism as it is an essential primer on Afrofuruist aesthetics and the dynamics of the philosophy. https://www.criterionchannel.com/the-last-angel-of-history

THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (1984) dir. John Sayles

After a mute alien (Joe Morton) crashes into Harlem as a Black man, he must find his way and get out of the way of white hunters. https://www.criterionchannel.com/the-brother-from-another-planet

WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME (1995) dir. Ngozi Onwurah

This dystopian film depicts a world where Black people are confined to a slum, the terrordome, and the revolution that unfolds after the police kill a Black boy. https://www.criterionchannel.com//welcome-ii-the-terrordome

BORN IN FLAMES (1983) dir. Lizzie Borden

When a Black revolutionary is mysteriously killed, women—across all lines of race, class, and sexual orientation—emerge to blow the system apart. https://www.criterionchannel.com/born-in-flames 

ORNETTE: MADE IN AMERICA (1985) dir. Shirley Clarke

Clarke masterfully captures Ornette Coleman's evolution from Texas boy to cultural phenom in a documentary that, much like its subject, moves to its own rhythm. https://www.criterionchannel.com/ornette-made-in-america

YEELEN (1987) dir. Souleymane Cissé

In this landmark African film, a young warrior goes on a quest to confront his father, a dangerous and corrupt wizard who uses his dark magic to try and destroy him. https://www.criterionchannel.com/yeelen 

THE CHANGING SAME (2001) dir. Cauleen Smith

In this hybrid between science fiction and noir, Cauleen Smith explores Black alienation and outsiderhood via the story of two aliens stationed on Earth searching for kinship. https://www.criterionchannel.com/the-changing-same

LES SAIGNANTES (2005) dir. Jean-Pierre Bekolo

In this blazingly Afrofeminist vision, a pair of supernatural lesbian call girls use their powers to smash a futuristic Cameroon’s corrupt, vampiric political patriarchy. https://www.criterionchannel.com/les-saignantes 

DARK MATTERS (2010) dir. Monique Walton

A woman obsessed with UFOs comes to terms with her identity after a visitor makes her question her ethnic, cultural, and planetary origins. https://www.criterionchannel.com/dark-matters 

THE BECOMING BOX (2011) dir. Monique Walton

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a mysterious box appears in the backyard of three siblings—a portal that may offer an escape from their surroundings. https://www.criterionchannel.com/the-becoming-box

ROBOTS OF BRIXTON (2011) dir. Kibwe Tavares

In a reality where Brixton is inhabited by London’s new robot workforce, tensions erupt among a group of young robots attempting to survive the daily grind. https://www.criterionchannel.com/robots-of-brixton

HASAKI YA SUDA (2011) dir. Cédric Ido

In an all-too-plausible future ravaged by climate change, rival clans must fight for the remaining natural resources in this short that blends samurai adventure, spaghetti western, and doomsday science-fiction. https://www.criterionchannel.com/hasaki-ya-suda 

JONAH (2013) dir. Kibwe Tavares

When two young men with big dreams photograph a ginormous fish leaping out of the sea, their small town blossoms into a tourist hot spot as a result. But their new reality is far from what they dreamed. https://www.criterionchannel.com/jonah 

TOUCH (2013) dir. Shola Amoo

An android’s experience of love causes her to rebel against her programming. https://www.criterionchannel.com/touch 

TWAAGA (2013) dir. Cédric Ido

Set during a revolutionary period in Burkina Faso, this film charts the journey of two brothers. As the brothers discover magic, they realize there are powers that rival superheroes. https://www.criterionchannel.com/twaaga 

AFRONAUTS (2014) dir. Nuotama Bodomo

In 1964, a Zambian teacher decides to train the first African crew to beat the Americans to the moon. https://www.criterionchannel.com/afronauts 

WHITE OUT, BLACK IN (2014) dir. Adirley Queirós

This film crafts an innovative documentary to take you on a sci-fi voyage through Brazil’s past, present, and future of racial struggle. https://www.criterionchannel.com/white-out-black-in

CRUMBS (2015) dir. Miguel Llansó

In post-apocalyptic Ethiopia, a hero embarks on a surreal journey involving witches, Santa Claus, Nazi knights, and much, much more. https://www.criterionchannel.com/crumbs 

THE GOLDEN CHAIN (2016) dirs. Adebukola Bodunrin and Ezra Claytan Daniels

Experimental cinema meets the aesthetics of the graphic novel in this surreal outer-space odyssey to the edge of consciousness and the cosmos. https://www.criterionchannel.com/the-golden-chain

ONCE THERE WAS BRASILIA (2017) dir. Adirley Queirós

This film charts the odyssey of an intergalactic traveler who embarks on a mission to assassinate former Brazilian president, Juscelino Kubitschek, but things quickly go awry. https://www.criterionchannel.com/once-there-was-brasilia

1968 < 2018 > 2068 (2018) dir. Keisha Rae Witherspoon

Drawing on literary excerpts from the book “Black Quantum Futurism: Theory and Practice,” 1968 < 2018 > 2068 is a meditation on cyclical and linear time theory, memory, and trauma. https://www.criterionchannel.com/1968-2018-2068 

SUPA MODO (2018) dir. Likarion Wainaina

A terminally ill girl wants to follow in the footsteps of her idol, Jackie Chan, to become a superhero. Time is not on her side until her community rallies together to make her dream come true. https://www.criterionchannel.com/supa-modo 

ZOMBIES (2019) dir. Baloji

Belgian-Congolese rapper Baloji directs this hallucinatory tour through the streets, hair salons, and underground clubs of Kinshasa. https://www.criterionchannel.com/zombies 

T (2019) dir. Keisha Rae Witherspoon

A film crew follows 3 grieving participants in Miami’s annual T Ball, where folks assemble to model RIP T-shirts and innovative costumes designed in honor of their dead. https://www.criterionchannel.com/t 

I SNUCK OFF THE SLAVE SHIP (2019) dirs. Lonnie Holley and Cyrus Moussavi

In this ecstatic and Afrofuturist vision set to his own music, Holley attempts to sneak off the slave ship “America”. https://www.criterionchannel.com/i-snuck-off-the-slave-ship

NATIVE SUN (2011) dirs. Terence Nance and Blitz Bazawule

A young boy embarks on a journey through Ghana to find his estranged father in this fable-like short made to accompany an album by hip-hop artist Blitz the Ambassador. https://www.criterionchannel.com/native-sun 

YOU AND I AND YOU (2015) dir. Terence Nance

Experimental cinema meets the aesthetics of the graphic novel in this surreal outer-space odyssey to the edge of consciousness and the cosmos. https://www.criterionchannel.com/you-and-i-and-you

AN OVER SIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY (2012) dir. Terence Nance

In this film, Nance effortlessly captures romantic tension, the vulnerability of loving another person, and a visual journey through the questions that keep every romantic up at night. https://www.criterionchannel.com/an-oversimplification-of-her-beauty

Next up: Let’s talk through the kaleidoscopic, mind-enhancing, unclassifiable work of Terence Nance — one of America’s most forward-thinking filmmakers. This is Directed by Terence Nance. https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-terence-nance

THEIR FALL OUR ALL (2014) dir. Terence Nance

This dreamlike fusion of political thriller and science-fiction fantasia is set to original music by Beyoncé. https://www.criterionchannel.com/their-fall-our-all

NO WARD (2009) dir. Terence Nance

This experimental documentary profiles displaced families from New Orleans as they restart their lives in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Gustav in 2008. https://www.criterionchannel.com/no-ward 

UNIVITELLIN (2016) dir. Terence Nance

Boy and girl meet. Boy and girl change each other’s lives. This star-crossed romantic tragedy—with a touch of the uncanny—unfolds on the streets of Marseille, France. http://criterionchannel.com/univitellin 

JIMI COULD HAVE FALLEN FROM THE SKY (2017) dir. Terence Nance

Set in Seattle where Jimi Hendrix was born and raised, this short boldly reimagines his origin story and highlights the fact that among many other talents, Jimi knew how to skydive. https://www.criterionchannel.com/jimi-could-have-fallen-from-the-sky

Spend some time hearing Nance discuss his own work in this newly recorded conversation with writer, musician, and icon of his own right, Greg Tate. https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-terence-nance/season:1/videos/terence-nance-interview