Acting
James Baldwin
Born August 2, 1924 · Harlem, New York, USA
Died December 1, 1987 · aged 63
James Arthur Baldwin was an African-American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. His essays, as collected in Notes of a Native Son, explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th-century America, and their inevitable if unnameable tensions.
Known For
If Beale Street Could Talk · 2018If Beale Street Could Talk
★ 6.92018
MovieRomanceDrama
After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.
Malcolm X · 1992Malcolm X
★ 7.51992
MovieDramaHistory
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
I Am Not Your Negro · 2017I Am Not Your Negro
★ 7.72017
MovieDocumentary
Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.
Go Tell It on the Mountain · 1984Go Tell It on the Mountain
★ 6.31984
MovieDramaTV Movie
Over a single, pivotal Saturday in 1930s Harlem, 14-year-old John Grimes wrestles with his religious calling and his fraught relationship with his abusive, hypocritical stepfather, Gabriel. Extended flashbacks explore the oppressive Southern past and personal histories of John's mother, his aunt, and Gabriel, ultimately illuminating the generational trauma and complex family secrets that shape his life.
Where the Heart Is · 1998Where the Heart Is
★ 6.11998
MovieComedyDrama
From the director of Marius et Jeannette, this story of two working-class families is a fable with an optimist streak. A young black man, Francois, is wrongly accused of rape by a racist policeman. The story is told in voiceover by his childhood friend, neighbor, and the mother of his future child, Clementine, who is white. The city is Marseilles as in the previous film, symbolic with its churches, prisons and ruins. Except in this film, director Robert Guediguian also ventures outside, taking the story to Sarajevo; two different cities, one devastated by war, the other by a bad economy and unemployment. A la Place du coeur won a Special Jury Prize at the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival and was also shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival and the 1998 Montreal Film Festival.
The Negro and the American Promise · 1963The Negro and the American Promise
1963
MovieTV MovieDocumentary
Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin -- three of the most highly regarded civil rights leaders of the 1960s -- were united in their quest for Black empowerment. But their methods of approach were polarizing.
I Heard It Through the Grapevine · 1982I Heard It Through the Grapevine
★ 7.01982
MovieDocumentaryHistory
Renowned Black writer James Baldwin retraces his time in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting with his trademark brilliance and insight on the passage of more than two decades. From Selma and Birmingham and Atlanta; to the battleground beaches of St. Augustine, Florida, with Chinua Achebe; and back north for a visit to Newark with Amiri Baraka, Baldwin lays bare the fiction of progress in post–Civil Rights America, wondering “what happened to the children” and those 'who did not die, but whose lives were smashed on Freedom Road'.
Brother, Where Are You? · 2022Brother, Where Are You?
★ 10.02022
MovieDramaHistory
Two brothers, separated by time and prison bars, reestablish contact. Inspired by James Baldwin's short story, 'Sonny's Blues.'
Filmography
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