Boots Riley

Directing

Boots Riley

Born April 1, 1971 · Chicago, Illinois, USA (age 55)

Raymond Lawrence 'Boots' Riley (born April 1, 1971) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, rapper, and communist activist. He is the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He made his feature-film directorial debut with Sorry to Bother You (released July 2018), which he also wrote. In 2023, the streaming series I'm a Virgo premiered on Prime Video, which Riley wro…

Known For

I Love BoostersI Love Boosters · 2026
I Love Boosters
6.02026
MovieComedyScience Fiction
A group of shoplifters take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven by stealing from her stores and reselling them at a lower price — what they call 'fashion-forward philanthropy'.
Sorry to Bother YouSorry to Bother You · 2018
Sorry to Bother You
6.82018
MovieFantasyScience Fiction
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.
FremontFremont · 2023
Fremont
6.42023
MovieComedyDrama
Donya, a lonely Afghan refugee and former translator, spends her twenties drifting through a meager existence in Fremont, California. Shuttling between her job writing fortunes for a fortune cookie factory and sessions with her eccentric therapist, Donya suffers from insomnia and survivor's guilt over those still left behind in Kabul as she desperately searches for love.
The Last CriticThe Last Critic · 2026
The Last Critic
2026
Movie
Sixty years & a million records ago, Robert Christgau invented Rock music criticism. Anyone who has ever read or written a Pop music review has been influenced by Christgau, who canonized legends from The Ramones to Public Enemy & infuriated icons from Lou Reed to Billy Joel. Now in his eighties, Bob is still at it—amazingly with the same vigor, wit, concision and craft that has defined his expansive career. But in a world where albums are irrelevant, where print is dead & where algorithms have eclipsed critics we are forced to ask: What happens next—for Bob, but also for all music criticism? Is this the end of something? Is Robert Christgau the last critic?
I'm Charlie WalkerI'm Charlie Walker · 2022
I'm Charlie Walker
5.02022
MovieDrama
1971 post civil rights San Francisco seemed like the perfect place for a black Korean War veteran and his family to realize their dream of economic independence, and a chance for him to be his own boss. Charlie Walker would soon find out how naive he was. In a city full of impostors and naysayers, he refused to take "No" for an answer. That is, until a catastrophic disaster opened a door that had never been open to a Black man before. This is a story about what happened when he stepped through that door with both feet.
When I See Them, I See UsWhen I See Them, I See Us · 2021
When I See Them, I See Us
2021
MovieDocumentary
We choose to build with one another in a shoulder to shoulder struggle against state-sanctioned violence. A violence that is manifest in the speed of bullets and batons and tear gas that pierce our bodies. One that is latent in the edifice of law and concrete that work together to, physically and figuratively, cage us. We choose to join one another in resistance not because our struggles are the same but because we each struggle against the formidable forces of structural racism and the carceral and lethal technologies deployed to maintain them. This video intends to interrupt that process – to assert our humanity – and to stand together in an affirmation of life and a commitment to resistance. From Ferguson to Gaza, from Baltimore to Jerusalem, from Charleston to Bethlehem, we will be free.
Mr. BurnsMr. Burns
Mr. Burns
MovieComedyScience Fiction
Nearly a century after a nuclear holocaust, a new civilization is stumbling its way into the future, and old scraps of pop culture have become the basis for their oral storytelling. A group of survivors share a campfire and begin to piece together the plot of their bizarre sacred text – a story known to their ancestors as The Simpsons episode “Cape Feare”.
The Coup: The Best Coup DVD EverThe Coup: The Best Coup DVD Ever · 2006
The Coup: The Best Coup DVD Ever
2006
MovieDocumentaryMusic
The Coup is one of the most notoriously political groups in the history of rap music. This DVD features music videos and interviews with Boots Riley and DJ Pam the Funkstress.

Filmography

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When I See Them, I See UsWhen I See Them, I See Us · 2021
When I See Them, I See Us
2021
MovieDocumentary
We choose to build with one another in a shoulder to shoulder struggle against state-sanctioned violence. A violence that is manifest in the speed of bullets and batons and tear gas that pierce our bodies. One that is latent in the edifice of law and concrete that work together to, physically and figuratively, cage us. We choose to join one another in resistance not because our struggles are the same but because we each struggle against the formidable forces of structural racism and the carceral and lethal technologies deployed to maintain them. This video intends to interrupt that process – to assert our humanity – and to stand together in an affirmation of life and a commitment to resistance. From Ferguson to Gaza, from Baltimore to Jerusalem, from Charleston to Bethlehem, we will be free.