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A Person Is More Important Than Anything Else (2014)
Character: Self (archive footage)
"A person is more important than anything else…," is driven by the cadence and intonation of James Baldwin’s voice, for Baldwin was also an orator whose delivery was almost as forceful as his ideas. Artist Hank Willis Thomas weaves various audio, images, and video together including news clips, speeches, and interviews, in a fluid-moving, digital stream of consciousness that connects Baldwin’s 20th century discourse with the concerns and urgencies of the 21st, highlighting issues of race, gender, class and sexuality. Commissioned in 2014 by NY Live Arts for the Year of James Baldwin, this multi-channel installation brings history to the fore, inspiring us to re-imagine our relationship to the contemporary moment.
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Take This Hammer (1964)
Character: Self
Take This Hammer features KQED's mobile film unit following author and activist James Baldwin in the spring of 1963, as he's driven around San Francisco to meet with members of the local African American community.
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i ran from it and was still in it (2021)
Character: Self (voice) (archive footage)
I ran from it and was still in it poetically interweaves personal family memories with original and found footage to offer a more complex portrait of familial loss and separation. Kae wades through deep emotions surrounding the death of his father and the sudden relocation of his children, repurposing intimate family scenes from his personal archive by pairing them with online media from a variety of sources to explore how the autobiographical model can potentially extend beyond the personal.
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De Cabral a George Floyd: Onde Arde o Fogo Sagrado da Liberdade (2020)
Character: Self
Through clippings, the film draws a narrative line between the construction of racism in Brazil and the United States, having as base the European invasion of the continent, police violence, the genocide of the black people, the massacre of indigenous peoples, religious violence, the criminalization of funk music, structural racism in art and education, the importance of quota policy and the need urgent historical repair as a commitment by the Brazilian state to the black people.
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The James Baldwin Anthology (2003)
Character: N/A
The James Baldwin Anthology consists of internationally known writer James Baldwin's historic speech at UC Berkeley in 1979, his answers in a dialogue with Malcom X in the ’60s, and series of original mixed media images done by Claire Burch as a memorial after his death in 1987. Following this material is an additional half hour which contains an interview with the late Professor Erskine Peters who was host to Jimmy at this time, and footage of a session at Cody’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California where author David Lemming reads from his biography of Jimmy and describes Baldwin’s sad and funny efforts to bring a close friend, the painter Beauford Delaney, from a psychiatric unit in France to Turkey where Jimmy was living at the time.
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Target: St. Louis Vol. 1 (2018)
Character: Self (archive footage)
TARGET ST. LOUIS Vol. 1© tells the story of how the United State Military conducted secret chemical testing on citizens of St. Louis's Northside. Told through the eyes of the survivors who bravely share their experiences of being unwitting test subjects. Long before the current scandal of lead poisoning of the water supply of Flint, Michigan, the United States Army conducted secret experiments on unknowing residents of northern St. Louis using toxic chemicals. The predominantly African American residents of northern St. Louis are the focus of this film. "Target: St Louis Vol. 1" shares their disturbing story of how these Cold War experiments occurred and the film examines the actions of the US Military that extended beyond the guarantees of public safety promised to US citizens by the Constitution.
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Robert Penn Warren: A Vision (2018)
Character: N/A
A documentary profile of 3-time Pulitzer winning author Robert Penn Warren, featuring Harold Bloom, David Blight, Natasha Trethewey, David Milch, Gabriel Warren and Rosanna Warren.
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Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley (1965)
Character: Self
The Cambridge Union Society debates the motion "Has the American Dream Been Achieved at the Expense of the American Negro?" on its 150th anniversary. David Heycock and James Baldwin argue the Affirmative. Jeremy Burford and William F. Buckley argue the Negative.
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James Baldwin Abroad (2023)
Character: Self
Showcasing three short films by American writer James Baldwin, wherein he muses about race, sexuality and civil rights, among other topics, in Istanbul, Paris and Great Britain.
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The Black Contribution: Literature and Theatre (1978)
Character: Himself
The Black Contribution – Literature and Theater 1978 is a rare documentary highlighting the voices and cultural impact of African American writers and performers during the civil rights era. Introduced by NAACP leader Benjamin Hooks and narrated by Roscoe Lee Brown, the film weaves together dramatic readings, theatrical excerpts, and candid urban street footage. Margaret Walker’s poem For My People is performed alongside scenes of daily Black life in New York City — children playing, families on stoops, open fire hydrants, and the realities of poverty in 1970s neighborhoods. James Baldwin appears in interview footage, while signs for his play The Amen Corner and stage excerpts from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun underscore the powerful presence of Black voices in American theater. With rare shots of Harlem life, literature, and performance, this film documents the enduring contributions of African American artists to U.S. culture and history.
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The Negro and the American Promise (1963)
Character: N/A
Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin -- three of the most highly regarded civil rights leaders of the 1960s -- were united in their quest for Black empowerment. But their methods of approach were polarizing.
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I Am Not Your Negro (2017)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.
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Kırık Beyaz Laleler (2013)
Character: Self
Concentrating on James Baldwin's extended stays in Istanbul in 60's and 70's, the film explores the limits of an autobiography mostly relying on found materials such as Sedat Pakay's photography. Racism, transnational discourses, queer politics and appropriation art are also being investigated throughout the video-essay. Off-white Tulips is conceived as a fictional dialogue with James Baldwin that focuses on his prolonged stay in Istanbul. Found documents and re-signified objects are manipulated to layer Baldwin’s identity as a black gay author with the narrator’s personal history. The associative narrative extends with references to Turkish and American pop-icons, investigations into etymology and self-reflexive comments on visual representation towards a situated critique of racism.
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I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1982)
Character: N/A
Renowned Black writer James Baldwin retraces his time in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting with his trademark brilliance and insight on the passage of more than two decades. From Selma and Birmingham and Atlanta; to the battleground beaches of St. Augustine, Florida, with Chinua Achebe; and back north for a visit to Newark with Amiri Baraka, Baldwin lays bare the fiction of progress in post–Civil Rights America, wondering “what happened to the children” and those 'who did not die, but whose lives were smashed on Freedom Road'.
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Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues (2022)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Never-before-heard personal recordings and archival footage tell the story of Louis Armstrong's life from his perspective. From musical phenom to civil rights activist to world-renowned artist, this illuminating film shows sides of Armstrong few have seen.
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The Statue of Liberty (1985)
Character: Self - Writer
For more than 100 years, the Statue of Liberty has been a symbol of hope and refuge for generations of immigrants. In this lyrical, compelling and provocative portrait of the statue, Ken Burns explores both the history of America’s premier symbol and the meaning of liberty itself. Featuring rare archival photographs, paintings and drawings, readings from actual diaries, letters and newspapers of the day, the fascinating story of this universally admired monument is told. In interviews with Americans from all walks of life, including former New York governor Mario Cuomo, the late congresswoman Barbara Jordan and the late writers James Baldwin and Jerzy Kosinski, The Statue of Liberty examines the nature of liberty and the significance of the statue to American life. Nominated for both the Academy Award ® and the Emmy Award ®, The Statue of Liberty received the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle, the Christopher Award and the Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival.
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King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970)
Character: Self (archive footage)
A presentation of key events in the life of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Beginning with the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, MLK is followed through major steps in his struggle to promote racial equality. Including footage of King's stirring speeches, it is a fitting tribute to his legacy, and features clips narrated by a wide range of celebrities, including Harry Belafonte, Paul Newman Charlton Heston, Ruby Dee, Burt Lancaster, Anthony Quinn, Walter Matthau, Ben Gazzara, Clarence Williams III, Joanne Woodward, and James Earl Jones.
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James Baldwin: From Another Place (1973)
Character: Self
In Istanbul, American writer James Baldwin muses about race, the American fascination with sexuality, insights into his interrupted writing decade in the country, the generosity of the Turks, and how being in another country, in another place, forces one to re-examine well-established attitudes about modern society.
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The New Yorker at 100 (2025)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Hard-hitting journalism. Era-defining fiction. Witty cartoons. The New Yorker marks its 100th anniversary with this look at its past, present and future. The New Yorker's centennial reveals behind-the-scenes access to editors, writers, and archives of this culturally vital magazine, one of print's last survivors.
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Mr. SOUL! (2018)
Character: Self (archive footage)
On the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, one fearless black pioneer reconceived a Harlem Renaissance for a new era, ushering giants and rising stars of black American culture onto the national television stage. He was hip. He was smart. He was innovative, political, and gay. In his personal fight for social equality, this man ensured the Revolution would be televised. The man was Ellis Haizlip. The Revolution was soul!
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Public Speaking (2011)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp wit and observations on modern life. Filmed at New York’s Waverly Inn and intercut with archival footage and interviews, the documentary captures Lebowitz’s distinctive worldview through her spontaneous monologues and public appearances.
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Madonna: Madame X (2021)
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Filmed in Lisbon, Portugal, the film captures the pop icon’s rare and rapturous tour performance, hailed by sold out theatrical audiences worldwide. The unprecedented intimate streaming experience will take viewers on a journey as compelling and audacious as Madonna’s fearless persona, Madame X, a secret agent traveling around the world, changing identities, fighting for freedom and bringing light to dark places.
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Baldwin's Nigger (1968)
Character: Self
James Baldwin and Dick Gregory discuss the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s Great Britain.
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James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket (1989)
Character: Self (archive footage)
James Baldwin was at once a major 20th century American author, a Civil Rights activist and, for two crucial decades, a prophetic voice calling Americans, black and white, to confront their shared racial tragedy.
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Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1971)
Character: Self
In 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, and the result is a fascinating, confrontational, often uncomfortable butting of heads between the filmmakers and their subject, in which the author visits the Bastille and other Parisian landmarks and reflects on revolution, colonialism, and what it means to be a Black expatriate in Europe.
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