Print This Page

VIDEOS/DVDs BEGINNING WITH LETTER B

Baad Asssss Cinema. New York: Docurama, Distributed by New Video, 2002. Letterbox format. 1 videodisc (56 min.)
In this groundbreaking documentary from the Independent Film channel, filmmaker Isaac Julien takes us back to the early 70s and the explosion of blaxploitation films, today one of American cinema's most beloved cult genres. The original guilty pleasure, these fun and energetic films had all the action, comedy, sex and groovy music you could want in two hours worth of entertainment. Directed by Melvin Van Peebles. AFR Videodisc 14

 

Baby Boy. Culver City, Calif.: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 2001. 1 videodisc (130 min.)
In South Central L.A., Jody has two babies by two different women and he still lives at home with his mom. He's trying to live large, but doesn't have or want a job. Growing up is tough on Jody, but a series of events involving his mother, her new boyfriend, his girlfriend, and her ex-con ex-boyfriend all force him to learn some hard lessons about living, loving and surviving. AFR Videodisc 29

Bamboozled. United States: New Line Home Entertainment, 2001. 1 videodisc (ca. 136 min.)
In a searing parody of American television, this film takes a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a network executive's stunning rise and tragic downfall. AFR Videodisc 17

 

La bataille d'Alger = Battle of Algiers. Irvington, NY: Criterion Collection; Chicago, IL: Distributed by Home Vision Entertainment, 2004. 3 videodiscs (ca. 125 min.)
Focuses on the harrowing events of 1957, a key year in Algeria’s struggle for independence from France. Recreates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, the French torture prisoners for information and the Algerians resort to terrorism in their quest for independence. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés. The French win the battle, but ultimately lose the war as the Algerian people demonstrate that they will no longer be suppressed. Videodisc 67

 

Battle of Algiers. New York, NY: Axon Video, 1988. 1 videocassette (125 min.)
Dramatization of the conflict between Algerian nationalists and French colonialists that culminated in Algeria's independence in 1962. AFR Video 93

 

Benny Andrews the Visible Man. Chappaqua, NY: L & S Video, 1996. 1 videocassette (28 min.)
Examines the life and works of African-American artist Benny Andrews. AFR Video 368

 

Berbice Uprising. Canada: Roots International Productions, 1989. 1 videocassette (87 min.)
Drama of love and rebellion waged by the African slaves of 1763 in Berbice, Guyana. Leader of the uprising against the Dutch planters, Kofi and his co-leader, Akkara, struggle for leadership and to win Nefetari's love. AFR Video 588

 

The Best of Black Journal. New York, NY: Distributed by William Greaves Productions, [199-?] 1 videocassette (aprox. 55 min.)
A compendium of highlights from the landmark public television series, Black Journal, the first nationally broadcast program produced and entirely controlled by Black Americans. This collection provides a unique perspective on the late Civil Rights period. AFR Video 577

 

Best of the Chris Rock Show. United States: HBO Video, 2005. 2 videodiscs (120 min.)
This 2-disc set combines the best of Chris Rock’s ground-breaking, Emmy-award winning comedy, The Chris Rock Show. It’s an unrated, uncensored, uninhibited 2 hours of one of America’s finest comic minds. Includes Chris Rock’s Taxi Driver Confessions.
AFR Videodisc 187

 

Between Joyce and Remembrance. Oley, PA: Bullfrog Films, c2004. 1 videodisc (68 min.)
A hard-hitting documentary about truth and reconciliation in South Africa, focusing on the family of the tortured, poisoned and murdered student activist, Siphiwo Mtimkulu. --Container. AFR Videodisc 115

 

Betye and Alison Saar: Conjure Women of the Arts. Chappaqua, NY: L&S Video Enterprises, 1994. 1 videocassette (28 min.)
Mother and daughter artists demonstrate collaborative art, and the use of found objects in their work, and reflect on their relationship, motivation and role as African American women. AFR Video 97

 

Beyond Black And White Affirmative Action In America. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities, 2000. 1 videocassette (60 min.)
All sides in the affirmative action debate say that they believe in the Constitutional right to equality regarding race, creed and sex, but they bring very different interpretations to what that means. A distinguished panel of experts discuss this issue. AFR Video 502

 

B.D. Women. New York: distributed by Women Make Movies, 1994. 1 videocassette  (20 min.)
On being a black lesbian, with interviews in Great Britain and interspersed performance pieces. AFR Video 668

 

Bill Cosby. Himself. Beverly Hills, California: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2003. 1 videodisc (103 min.)
One of the longtime masters of stand-up comedy, Bill Cosby treats his fans to this funny, satirical and heartwarming live concert from Canada. His material ranges from the trials of marriage and parenthood, to the side-splitting antics of the very young, to a hilarious encounter at a dentist’s office. Filled with spontaneity and electricity that only a live performance can provide. AFR Videodisc 198

 

The Birth of A Nation. United States: VCI Home Video, c1998. 1 videocassette (125 min.).
A major milestone in the history of cinema, The Birth of a Nation marked the birth of the epic film. It was adapted from the controversial novel The Clansman, depicting the intense drama of the Civil War. A mere five decades separates that great conflict from the making of the film. Griffith's controversial film about two families during the Civil War and Reconstruction era. AFR Video 561

 

Bitter Cane. Brooklyn, NY: Haiti Films, c1983. 1 videocassette (75 min.)
Examines the history of Haiti, from the 1804 revolution to the occupation (1915-34) by U.S. Marines, and the repressive Duvalier regimes of `Papa Doc’ and `Baby Doc.' AFRVideo 638

 

Bitter Melons. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources, 1991. 1 videocassette (30 min.)
Portrays the difficulty of survival in the central Kalahari Desert in southern Africa, in a zone where game is scarce because waterholes are dry most of the year. A native musician performs songs about animals, the land, and the social life. Includes traditional music, dances, and children's games. AFR Video 13

 

Black and White in Exile. Fanwood, NJ: Edge Video, 1997. 2 videocassettes (162 min.)
The dramatic story of Cubans and Haitians in the United States and their struggle to survive in the new America. AFR Video 406

 

Black Athena. San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel, 1991. 1 videocassette (52 min.)
Explores the heated debate around Martin Bernal's iconoclastic book on the African origins of Greek culture, Black Athena. AFR Video 4

 

Black Belt Jones. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 1990. 1 videocassette (87 min.)
Pop Boyd owns a thriving karate school near downtown Los Angeles. Unfortunately, it sits on a piece of land the Mafia wants to acquire to develop its own civic center. When the mob’s muscling of Pop leads to tragedy, Black Belt Jones steps forward to exact his individual brand of lightning-charged revenge. AFR Video 646

 

Black Caesar. Santa Monica, CA: MGM Home Entertainment, 2001. 1 videodisc (94 min.)
Fred Williamson is "imposing, tough and unflappable" as a street kid who muscles his way into the big time mob racket. AFR Videodisc 104

 

Black Determination: Cornell 1969. A News Reel Film. 1 videocassette (15 min.)
This film is about the 1969 takeover of Willard Straight Hall at Cornell University. Included is a historical overview of the demands made by black students to have Cornell start a Black Studies program. Actual footage and audio of the takeover are included. This film was produced by Ralph Diamant, and narrated by Tom Jones. AFR Video 209

 

Black Girl -- La Noire de. New York, N.Y.: New Yorker Films, 1965. 1 videocassette (57 min.)
Tells of a Senegalese woman who is eager to find a better life abroad, and how this hope turns to disillusionment and finally despair after taking a job as a servant for a Parisian family. AFR Video 452

Black Girl -- La noire de. United States: New Yorker Video, 2005. 1 videodisc (80 min.)
In La noire de a Senegalese maid goes to the Riviera with her employers and gains a new perspective on what it means to be African outside of Africa. A story of exile and despair. Borom Sarret follows a cart driver as he meets an unfortunate array of people in Dakar. AFR Videodisc 288

The Black Godfather. Santa Monica, Calif.: Distributed by Xenon Pictures, 2004.
1 videodisc (95 min.)
After a violent confrontation with a local mobster leaves a friend dead, hustler J.J. is taken under the wing of the local numbers king who teaches him how to dismantle the drug operation of the mobster. AFR Videodisc 84

 

Black Heat. Santa Monica. CA: Distributed by Xenon Entertainment Group, 1996.
1 videocassette (92 min.)
Guido (J.C. Wells) has a deal cooking in L.A. to trade some firearms for drugs. He’s lined up two second rate crooks, Fay and Ziggy to rip-off a securities messenger to buy the firearms. AFR Video 664

 

Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed. Xenon Home Video, 1991. 1 videocassette (60 min.)
Examines the manner in which American historians have tended to ignore, downplay, or improperly document several significant achievements by black Americans. AFR Video 68

 

Black Hollywood: The Way It Was. New York, N.Y.: Tony Brown Productions, c1983. 1 videocassette (106 min.) AFR Video 542

 

Black Indians: An American story. Dallas, Tex.: Rich-Heaped Films, Inc., c2000.
1 videodisc (60 min.) Narrated by James Earl Jones and with music by The Neville Brothers this video explores the issue of racial identity among Native and African Americans. This in-depth documentary examines the coalescence of these two groups in American history. AFR. Videodisc 82

 

Black Is...Black Ain't. San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel, 1995. 1 videocassette (86 min.)
Weaves together the testimony of those whose complexion, class, gender, speech or sexuality has bade them feel "too Black" or "not Black enough." Marlon Riggs locates the essence of "Blackness" in African Americans' courage from slavery down to the present to improvise a positive meaning for their lives in the face of overwhelming discrimination and suffering. AFR Video 190

 

Black Mama, White Mama. Santa Monica, CA: MGM Home Entertainment, c2001.
1 videodisc (86 min.)
Two female prisoners in a jungle prison prostitute Lee Daniels and guerilla fighter Karen Brent, will do anything to escape. Their chance comes during a transport on which they are shackled together. After killing a guard they are on the run for their lives.AFR Videodisc 103

 

The Black Music of Brazil. Newton, NJ?: Shanachie Records, 1990. 1 videocassette (60 min.)
Portrayal of the music and culture of Brazil, especially samba music and those elements of Brazilian culture which originate among the African and ethnically mixed sections of the population. Special emphasis is laid on socioeconomic conditions of Brazilian Blacks and on the samba schools, which serve an important community function as well as being organizational centers for Carnival. AFR Video 58

 

Black Nations/ Queer Nations: Lesbian and Gay Sexualities in the African Diaspora. New York: [Third World Newsreel], 1995. 1 videocassette (52 min.)
On March 9, 1995 an historic conference took place in New York City about the state of affairs among lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people of African descent. What resulted will shape debates around race, gender, sexuality and sexual practice well into the next century. AFR Video 637

 

Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement. San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel, 1978. 1 videocassette (114 min.)
Recaptures the birth of a new theatre from the Civil Rights activism of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. It is an encyclopedia on video of the leading figures, institutions and events of a movement which transformed American theatre. Clips from historic productions now available for the first time on video include the first all-black production of Genet's The Blacks, along with A Raisin in the Sun, Black Girl, Dutchman and For Colored Girls Who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf. AFR Video 138

 

Blacula. Santa Monica, CA: Distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment, 2004. 1 videodisc (93 min.)
An African prince stalks the city streets to satisfy his desire for blood. AFR Videodisc 80

 

Bloody Streetz. Santa Monica, Calif.: Artisan Home Entertainment, 2003. 1 videodisc  (83 min.)
After the death of his son, Black lives to avenge the murder. He surges through a wave of violent acts, but an unexpected love interest compels his heart to view other means of release. Will he be able to escape the blood on his hands and start out fresh? AFR Videodisc 179

 

Blooms of Banjeli: Technology and Gender in African Ironmaking. Watertown, MA: Documentary Educational Resources, 1986. 1 videocassette (29 min.)
Documents the construction of an iron working furnace by the Bassari of western Togo in 1985 and the attempt to smelt iron in it, using traditional techniques, materials and rituals. Its purpose is to document the process before all memory of it is lost and to show how technology reflects the belief systems of the culture, including those concerning the interrelationship of male and female. AFR Video 40

 

Bluehill Avenue. [United States] : Artisan Home Entertainment, 2002. 1 videodisc (120 min.). Four childhood friends from the rough Roxbury neighborhood in Boston have all their dreams come true when they make quick money dealing drugs. But they soon find out that the repercussions of such a life can be deadly. AFR Videodisc 35

 

Blues in Schwarzweiss: Vier schwarze deutsche Leben / ein film von John A. Kantara. 1998. 1 videocassette (37 min.)
Taking its title from a poem by May Ayim, this documentary film profiles lives of four Afro-Germans. AFR Video 555

Boarding House Blues. Narberth, PA.: Alpha Video, 2005. 1 videodisc (87 min.)
An "evil" landlord threatens to evict "Moms" and her tenants from their boardinghouse because she can’t pay the rent. Since the tenants are mostly entertainers they decide to put on a show to raise the money. AFR Videodisc 199

 

Body and Soul. Chicago, IL: Facets Multimedia, 1994? 1 videocassette (80 min.)
In this early all Black production Paul Robeson plays a seemingly venal black preacher living a double life. The preacher shows up in a speakeasy full of criminals and cardsharpers, and then is seen attempting to dupe a pious mother into marrying off her daughter. Near the end of the film, both roles are revealed as shams. Robeson is shown to be a kind-hearted man who ultimately closes the speakeasy. A strong and masculine black image emerges, towering above the stereotypes prevalent in other films of the era. AFR Video 100

 

Body and Soul. Santa Monica, CA: MGM Home Entertainment, c2005. 1 videodisc (105 min.)
Amateur Golden Gloves champ Leon Johnson is forced to turn pro when his sister’s expensive medical treatment financially burdens his family. He soon learns the ropes, but just as quickly he gets caught up in his own hype, loses the woman he loves and succumbs to the corruption he vowed he would change.  AFR Videodisc 109

 

The Bombing of Osage Avenue. Philadelphia, PA: WHYY; [San Francisco, Calif.]: Distributed by Scribe Video Center, 1986. 1 videocassette (57 min.)
Traces the history of African Americans in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia up to the military-style eviction of the Philadelphia-based project MOVE, which turned an American neighborhood into a war zone. Includes interviews with neighbors and former group members. It also includes testimony in front of the MOVE Commission.AFR Video 641

Boomerang. Hollywood, Calif.: Paramount Home Video, 2002. 1 videodisc (116 min.)
New York marketing exec Marcus Graham is a wolf in chic clothing, a lady’s man dedicated to life, liberty and the happiest of pursuit. But what goes around comes around when he meets a stylish career woman who treats men the same way he treats women.
AFR Videodisc 205

The Boondocks (Season 1). Culver City, Calif.: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2006.3 videodiscs (ca. 323 min.)
Based on the comic strip, Huey and Riley move away from the city and out to the suburbs with their grandfather. Biting socio-political commentary ensues. AFR Videodisc 186

Boycott. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, [2002] 1 videodisc (113 min.) When Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat in the "whites only" section of the bus, she sets in motion the Civil Rights movement, making Martin Luther King, Jr. a national leader AFR Videodisc 54

 

The Boys of Baraka. New York: Thinkfilm, 2006. 1 videodisc (84 min.)
The Baraka School is an experimental institution in Kenya where children live by strict guidelines, yet are given the freedom to grow. Follow 12 out of control boys from the streets of Baltimore as they move into their temporary home, the Baraka School. 
AFR Videodisc 178

 

Boyz n The Hood. Culver City, Calif.: Columbia TriStar Home Video: Columbia Pictures, 1998. 1 videocassette (112 min.)
For three young men growing up in South Central Los Angeles, the "hood" is a place of drive-by shootings, unemployment, drugs and pain. But their reactions to the world around them vary -- one is an unambitious drug dealer, his brother is a college bound teenage father, and the brother's best friend is guided by a strong father who hopes for a better life for his son. AFR Video 494

Le bouillon d'awara = Awara soup. San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel, 1995.1 videocassette (71 min.).
Introduces the viewer to one of the world's most multi-cultural communities, a global village in the backcountry of French Guiana. AFR Video 313

Brazil in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1990. 1 videocassette (50 min.)
Narrative of Dutch settlement in Brazil. Highlights the land and sea conflicts between the Dutch and Portuguese, and the introduction of slavery in Brazil. AFR Video 1

Break Me My Bounds: The Paul Dunbar Laurence Story. Boston, MA: Northern Lights Productions, 2002. 1 videocassette (19 min.)  
Tells the life of the famous African-American poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar, after whom many African-American institutions are named. The story is told through archival materials, dramatic re-creations and through his own voice. AFR Video 672

Broadcast on BBC World and BBC News 24, Ian O’reilly August 2005, 1 videocassette (23 Min)
This DVD documents the efforts made by the Botswana government to kick the Gana and Gwi Bushmen off of their ancestral lands. It includes interviews with the Botswana President. AFR Videodisc

Brother Minister: the Assassination of El-Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X). Greenvale, NY: 3rd Millennium Entertainment Group, 1995. 1 videocassette (115 min.)
This story is told through the eyes and voices of Malcolm's friends, his former enemies, assassination experts, dramatic re-enactments, rare archival footage and photographs, and the disclosure of recently declassified FBI and NYPD counter intelligence documents. Contains only 11 minutes of narration. AFR Video 228

Buck and the Preacher. Culver City, Calif.: Columbia Tri-Star Home Video, c1999.
1 videodisc (102 min.)
An ex-Union Army Cavalry sergeant becomes a scout for freed slaves heading to the Colorado frontier. Tagging along with him are his wife and a Bible-thumping con artist. Attacked by racist bounty hunters, Buck and his followers must summon courage in order to help settle the Wild West. AFR Videodisc 110

Bush Mama. Washington, DC: Mypheduh Films, 1993? 1 videocassette (98 min.)
A powerful drama of a black woman living on welfare in the Los Angeles ghetto, trying to care for her daughter after being stranded alone by her man's imprisonment for a crime he didn't commit. AFR Video 215

Bustin’ loose. Universal City, CA: Universal, c2005. 1 videodisc (93 min.)
 Joe is an ex-con given a second chance after violating his parole. He has been hired by a schoolteacher to drive a group of special kids to their new home. Joe’s a bit unnerved by their mental problems, but soon they bond and become friends. AFR Videodisc 105

By Any Means Necessary. New York, NY. Cinema Guild, 1997. 1 videocassette (52 min.)
Discusses race awareness in Canada and the United States, Black nationalism, and Afrocentrism. Includes footage of speeches and civil right demonstrations and other documentary scenes in addition to the interviews made for this program. AFR Videodisc 580