David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh produce the Netflix documentary, directed by film critic Elvis Mitchell and more than 20 years in the making.
The 1970s era of film noir is at the forefront of film critic Elvis Mitchell’s Netflix documentary Is Black Enough For You? How a decade changed movies (and me)”.
Making its world premiere in the Spotlight section of the 2022 New York Film Festival, the documentary debuts in select theaters on October 28 before streaming on Netflix on November 11. Mitchell writes, directs and narrates the feature film, which includes interviews with Samuel L. Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Zendaya and Whoopi Goldberg, as well as actors Billy Dee Williams, Harry Belafonte, Mario Van Peebles, Margaret Avery and Charles Burnett.
“They were proof that we were here, that we created culture, that we have voices and that we will be heard,” says Fishburne in the trailer about the legacy of black filmmakers.
David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh are producing the documentary, along with Angus Wall and Ciara Lacy.
The official synopsis reads: From the celebrated writer and film historian Elvis Mitchell, “Is Black Enough for You?” is both a documentary and a deeply personal essay. The film examines the artistry and power of cinema from an often-overlooked perspective: the African-American contribution to films released in the historic era of the 1970s. It’s a deep dive into the impact that point of view had. in movies as well as in popular culture. A love letter to cinema raises questions that have never been asked, let alone answered. The artists offer their distinctive prism on the creators and films that dazzled and inspired, providing insight into the history of Black representation dating back to the earliest days of cinema and the cultural impact of witnessing Blackness unapologetically.
“When noir movies come out of the late ’60s and ’70s, they get dismissed with the term ‘Blaxploitation,'” Mitchell told Variety. “I have nothing against that word, but any era that includes ‘Killer of Sheep’, ‘Lady Sings the Blues’, ‘Blazing Saddles’ and ‘Symbiopsychotaxiplasm’ cannot be dismissed with that phrase.”
Mitchell continued: “As a black viewer, I was faced with what was not being said about my people and wondered why movies were taking so long to respond to black audiences, who paid good money to see movies, and even to social media. “. changes brought about by the civil rights movement.
The documentary took more than 23 years to make.
“Film noir reintroduced the ideals of glamor and heroism into the medium. And that failure became a convenient excuse to ignore film noir and downplay black audiences,” Mitchell said. “I’m afraid we may be a couple of box office flops due to such a reversal happening again.”
“Is black enough for you?” premieres November 11 on Netflix.
Take a look at the trailer below.
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