“The Birth of a Nation” has generated a lot of Oscar buzz (Photo Credit: Fox Searchlight).


 

Oscars So Black?


The hash tag #OscarsSoWhite became a trending topic early in 2016 because of the lack of diversity amongst nominees for the Academy Awards.


Although no one knows how the new and more diverse Oscar voters will lean, the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017 features some great movies with predominantly African-American casts.


Furthermore, the subject matter of many of these highly anticipated films focuses on the plight of African-Americans, which is very appropriate considering the Black Lives Matter movement.


Therefore, RegalMag.com suggests five films to see before the 2017 Academy Awards. 

 

  • “The Birth of a Nation”—Nate Parker writes, directs and stars as Nat Turner in the biopic “The Birth of a Nation.”  Turner was a slave and a preacher who used his “freedom” as a preacher to organize a slave revolt against the White plantation owners in Southampton County, Va.  The Turner biopic comes out Oct. 7.

  • “Fences”—Denzel Washington and Viola Davis star in the big screen adaptation of the classic August Wilson play “Fences.”  In the Christmas release, Washington portrays an African-American father struggling to raise his family during the racially turbulent 1950s.

  • “Loving”—Loving v. Virginia was one of the most important Supreme Court rulings during the Civil Rights Movement.  Richard and Mildred Loving loved each other and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.  The only problem was one was Black and one was White, which was illegal in Virginia in 1958.  Instead of living happily ever after, they were sentenced to prison.  “Loving” tells their inspirational love story.  Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton star as the Lovings.  The film hits theaters on Nov. 4.

  • “Barry”—Netflix might ruin the movie theater industry like the traditional television was predicted to do.  The video on demand network recently purchased the rights to “Barry,” a film about President Barack Obama’s life as a young man at Columbia University in New York City.  Devon Terrell stars as the future Commander-in-Chief.  The initial release of “Barry” was Sept. 10.

  • “Hidden Figures”—Mainstream society now knows the Black girls rock.  But the film “Hidden Figures” shows them rocking in stereotypical White male roles in the 1960s.  The film starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and singer Janell Monae tells the story of a group of African-American women who were the mathematical minds behind NASA’s first successful space missions.  “Hidden Figures” hits theaters Jan. 13, 2017.

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