Family Name Directed by Macky Alston: “Is something a secret if everybody knows it, but nobody talks about it?” The “secret” director Macky Alston refers to is the truth behind why he, a white man, shares his family name with so many Black individuals in the U.S.: The Alston family was one of the largest landowners and enslavers in North Carolina. In his debut documentary, Alston travels from New York to Alabama to find descendants of the enslaved individuals and enslavers who lived on plantations once owned by his family, discovering such extraordinary people as storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston and Harlem Renaissance painter Charles Henry “Spinky” Alston along the way. Streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Descendant Directed by Margaret Brown: In Margaret Brown’s film, which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Creative Vision at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, residents of Africatown in Mobile, Alabama, share their experiences as descendants of people whose history defies erasure. Their ancestors were enslaved Africans brought here in 1860 aboard the Clotilda, the last known ship to illegally transport enslaved people to the U.S. The ship was intentionally destroyed to hide the evidence of its voyage, but the recent discovery of its remains has brought to light a legacy that cannot be buried. Streaming on Netflix.
13th Directed by Ava DuVernay: Directed and produced by filmmaker and ARRAY’s own Ava DuVernay, this documentary features commentary from thought-leaders, scholars, and activists about this history of racial inequality in America, the criminalization of the Black community and the U.S. prison system’s institutional racism. Streaming on Netflix.
Whose Streets? Directed By Sabaah Folayan: Created from the perspective of activists and leaders, this Sabaah Folayan-directed documentary features raw footage from the 2014 Ferguson Protests, following the murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown. An unflinching look at how the police killing of 18-year-old Mike Brown inspired a community to fight back and sparked a global movement. Streaming on Netflix.
Summer of Soul Directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson: In his acclaimed debut as a filmmaker, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson presents a powerful and transporting documentary—part music film, part historical record created around an epic event that celebrated Black history, culture and fashion. Streaming on Hulu.
Miss Juneteenth Directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples: Turquoise Jones (Nicole Beharie), is a single mother in a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. She is the former winner of the local Miss Juneteenth pageant which offers full scholarship to a historically black college. She enters her 15-year-old daughter, Kai (Alexis Chikaeze) in the same pageant despite her daughter's obvious lack of enthusiasm. Streaming on Netflix.
American Son Directed by Kenny Leon: Based on the Broadway play written by Christopher Demos-Brown. Frantic with worry, Kendra Ellis-Connor (Kerry Washington) paces the waiting area of a Miami police station. Her 18-year-old son Jamal, a top student about to enter West Point, went out with friends early in the evening and, uncharacteristically, has neither returned nor contacted her. As she waits for her estranged husband Scott (Steven Pasquale), Kendra is interviewed by Officer Paul Larkin (Jeremy Jordan), who assures her that his questions about whether Jamal has priors, a street name, or gold teeth are strictly protocol and not racist. Larkin suddenly discloses new details regarding Jamal's whereabouts when Scott arrives, not initially realizing that this white FBI agent is Jamal's father. As the three hash it out in the otherwise deserted waiting area, urgent questions arise concerning the degree to which race, gender, and class play into police procedure.
Talk to Me Directed by Kasi Lemmons: In Talk to Me, director Lemmons celebrates one of the Civil Rights era’s most unlikely heroes. Ralph “Petey” Greene (Don Cheadle) was an ex-con who rose to fame as one of Washington D.C.’s most unpredictable radio personalities by his outrageous sense of humor. As Time notes, “He was hip, cool, angry, funny and, in the radio of his day, unique.” But the night Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Greene stayed on the radio, bringing calm to a troubled town.
