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Celebrating Sidney Poitier

A guide with print and visual resources for research on Sidney Poitier. Actor, film director, civil rights activist, author, and ambassador, Poitier was a groundbreaking international film icon.

Black filmmakers

Black filmmakers revolutionized the film industry. Below is a list of just a few:

  • Oscar Devereaux Micheaux was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company  was the first movie company owned and controlled by black filmmakers, Micheaux is regarded as the first major African-American feature filmmaker.
  • William D. Foster: 1884 – 15 April 1940 was a pioneering African-American film producer who was an influential figure in the Black film industry in the early 20th century. He was the first African American to found a film production company, establishing the Foster Photoplay Company in Chicago in 1910. His film "The Railroad Porter"  1912, is credited as being the world's first film with an entirely black cast and director.
  • Charles Burnett (1944) is an American film director, film producer, writer, editor, actor, photographer, and cinematographer. Growing up in the Watts community in Los Angeles had an enormous impact on Burnett's work, as well as his education at UCLA. The turbulent social events of 1967 and 1968 were vital in establishing the UCLA filmmaking movement known as the "Black Independent Movement”, in which Burnett was highly involved.
  • Spike Lee (1957) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. 
  • Ava Duvernay (1972) is a filmmaker and former film publicist. She is a recipient of a Primetime Emmy Award, a NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee of an Academy Award and Golden Globe
  • Julie Dash (1952) is a filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author, and website producer. Dash received her MFA in 1985 at the UCLA Film School and is one of the graduates and filmmakers known as the L.A. Rebellion. 
  • Jamaa Fanaka (1942-2012) was an American filmmaker. He is best known for his 1979 film, "Penitentiary", and was one of the leading directors of the L.A. Rebellion film movement.
  • Melvin Van Peebles (1932-2001) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. He was  known for "The Shining" (1997), "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" (1971) and "Jaws: The Revenge" (1987) 

Recommended readings

The ASU Library acknowledges the twenty-three Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University's four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today. ASU Library acknowledges the sovereignty of these nations and seeks to foster an environment of success and possibility for Native American students and patrons. We are advocates for the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies within contemporary library practice. ASU Library welcomes members of the Akimel O’odham and Pee Posh, and all Native nations to the Library.