James Baldwin On-Screen
5 Episodes
Towering literary lion, fierce social critic, and inimitable cultural icon James Baldwin opened up a new space for the frank discussion of race, sexuality, and identity in American society. He also left behind a dynamic cinematic legacy, as seen in these portraits that capture his electrifying presence, passionate eloquence, and incisive commentary on everything from art to religion to love to liberation to his most personal experiences as a gay Black man who lived much of his life abroad but who never stopped examining his own complex relationship to the United States.
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1:32:18Episode 1I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Episode 1
Directed by Pat Hartley and Dick Fontaine • 1982 • United States
Fifteen years after the end of Jim Crow, writer, activist, and cultural critic James Baldwin returns to the American South for a thought-provoking journey that brings the region’s past and present into revealing dialogue. As he rev...
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James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket
Episode 2
Directed by Karen Thorsen • 1989 • United States
Starring James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Amiri BarakaAn emotional portrait, a social critique, and a passionate plea for human equality, JAMES BALDWIN: THE PRICE OF THE TICKET eschews narration to allow the monumentally influential writer and activi...
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45:52Episode 3Baldwin’s Nigger
Episode 3
Directed by Horace Ové • 1968 • United Kingdom
Starring James Baldwin, Dick GregoryIn this riveting short documentary by pioneering Trinidadian-British filmmaker Horace Ové, James Baldwin and comedian-activist Dick Gregory speak to a group of radical West Indian students in London about everyth...
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27:16Episode 4Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris
Episode 4
Directed by Terence Dixon • 1970 • France, United Kingdom
Starring James Baldwin, Terence DixonIn 1970, a British film crew set out to make a straightforward literary portrait of James Baldwin set in Paris, insisting on setting aside his political activism. Baldwin bristled at their questions, ...
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12:03Episode 5James Baldwin: From Another Place
Episode 5
Directed by Sedat Pakay • 1973 • Turkey
Starring James BaldwinStrikingly shot on the streets of Istanbul, this portrait of the writer and thinker finds him discussing his work, sexuality, and complex feelings about the United States.
