Directed by Kathleen Collins • 1982 • United States
Starring Seret Scott, Bill Gunn, Duane Jones
One of the first feature films directed by an African American woman, Kathleen Collins’s LOSING GROUND tells the story of a marriage between two remarkable people, both at a crossroads in their lives. Sara Rogers (Seret Scott), a black professor of philosophy, is embarking on an intellectual quest to understand “ecstasy” just as her painter husband, Victor (Bill Gunn), sets off on a more earthy exploration of joy. Over the course of a summer idyll in upstate New York, the two each experience profound emotional and romantic awakenings. Applying a deft comic touch to a deeply personal exploration of love, race, and gender, Collins crafts a charming, complex tale of personal discovery that, after decades of neglect, has reemerged as a still-fresh landmark of independent cinema.
Up Next in Celebrate Black History
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Say Amen, Somebody
Directed by George T. Nierenberg • 1982 • United States
One of the most acclaimed music documentaries of all time is a joyous, funny, deeply emotional ode to gospel music and African American culture. Featuring the father of gospel, Thomas A. Dorsey; its matron, Willie Mae Ford Smith; and earth-...
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You Got to Move
Directed by Lucy Massie Phenix and Veronica Selver • 1985 • United States
Starring Myles Horton, May Justice, Bernice Johnson ReagonThis galvanizing documentary tells the story of individuals who have dared to change the world for the better, and of Tennessee’s world-renowned Highlander Folk Sc...
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Tongues Untied
Directed by Marlon Riggs • 1989 • United States
Marlon Riggs’s landmark documentary uses poetry, personal testimony, rap, and performance (featuring poet Essex Hemphill and others) to describe the homophobia and racism faced by Black gay men. The stories are often devastating: the man refused en...
