Directed by Jessie Maple • 1981 • United States
Starring Obaka Adedunyo, Loretta Devine, Robert Dean
In 1981, Jessie Maple became one of the first African American women to direct an independent film with this raw, unflinching portrait of heroin addiction and recovery. Shot on location in Harlem, WILL stars Obaka Adedunyo as the title character, a former All-American basketball star who has fallen from grace because of his dependence on junk. Soon after Will promises his wife, Jean (Loretta Devine, in her screen debut), that he’ll go straight, he becomes a father figure to Little Brother (Robert Dean), a street-tough teen who appears to be following in Will’s footsteps. By wising Little Brother up to the needle’s harsh realities, and by coaching a girls’ basketball team, Will renews his sense of purpose and begins to come out from under the influence—though dangerous temptations loom for both him and his young charge. A landmark of African American cinema, WILL resonates with Maple’s determination to tell the stories of her community with anger, sadness, and, ultimately, hope.
Up Next in Celebrate Black History
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Integration Report 1
Directed by Madeline Anderson • 1960 • United States
Recognized as the first documentary ever directed by an African American woman, INTEGRATION REPORT 1 examines the struggle for Black equality in Alabama, Brooklyn, and Washington, DC, incorporating footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles...
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Killer of Sheep
Directed by Charles Burnett • 1977 • United States
Starring Henry Gayle Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles BracyA quiet revelation of American independent filmmaking, Charles Burnett’s lyrical debut feature unfolds as a mosaic of Black life in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Stan (Henr...
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Compensation
Directed by Zeinabu irene Davis • 1999 • United States
Starring John Earl Jelks, Michelle A. Banks, Nirvana CobbA poignant portrait of Deaf African Americans and the complexities of love at both ends of the twentieth century, Zeinabu irene Davis’s film is a groundbreaking story of inclusion and...
