Filmmaker Kathleen Collins on the set of Losing Ground | Photo: Milestone Films

March is here, and in honor of Women’s History Month, this month’s newsletter will be slightly different: I’m going to be recommending 21 films directed by Black women that you need to watch not now but right now. I also have a few quick housekeeping notes:

BWD Zine! — Very pleased to announce that the first-ever BWD Zine is available for pre-order! Paid subscribers will get a little extra swag in addition to a 16-page zine featuring collages and original writing about four films by Black women directors. Just make sure to use the same email you used to sign up for the newsletter so I’ll know when you place your order!

Donate — I am still working on applying for grants to expand the work of BWD into more IRL events like the Chicago Film Symposium, but first, I need to raise at least $1K through my fiscal sponsorship with Fractured Atlas. So far, I’m $650 away from my goal, and all donations are tax-deductible! More info can be found here.

Filmmaker Opportunities — I’ll include these in the Substack notes section for this month; April’s newsletter will be back to regularly scheduled programming.

21 Must-See Films by Black Women Filmmakers for Women’s History Month

Killing Time

In no particular order, here are 21 must-see films — ranging from intimate dramas and historical epics to Afrofuturist visions and poignant documentaries — by Black women filmmakers that deserve your attention this month and beyond.

1. Killing Time (1979) – Fronza Woods

Where to Watch: Criterion Channel
Why: A darkly humorous short film about a young woman who can’t decide what outfit to wear before dying by suicide.

2. Eve's Bayou (Director's Cut) (1997) – Kasi Lemmons

Where to Watch: Criterion DVD
Why: The Director’s Cut includes a family member who is not in the theatrical release, further reinforcing this Southern Gothic film’s themes of the frailty of memory, intuition, and perception.

3. Faya Dayi (2021) – Jessica Beshir

Where to Watch: Criterion Channel
Why: An engaging documentary featuring hypnotic black-and-white cinematography about the cultivation of the plant khat in Ethiopia, which provides a hallucinogenic effect when consumed.

4. Losing Ground (1982) – Kathleen Collins

Where to Watch: Criterion Channel
Why: This is a poignant, wry, funny look at the life of a bookish Black woman who slowly comes into her own as she navigates a disappointing marriage.

5. The Watermelon Woman (1996) — Cheryl Dunye

Where to Watch: Kanopy
Why: It’s both a meta-commentary on the importance of documenting and archiving ourselves and also a refreshing romantic comedy told through a queer lens.

6. Drylongso (1996) – Cauleen Smith

Where to Watch: Criterion Channel
Why: A sometimes sad, darkly humorous, and ultimately sweet story of survival and friendship and perhaps also a blueprint for how the arts can help us survive in the face of everyday horrors.

7. Suicide by Sunlight (2019) – Nikyatu Jusu

Where to Watch: YouTube and Criterion Channel
Why: A stylish, sensual take on vampire lore, starring Natalie Paul as a vampire who can day walk due to the melanin in her skin.

8. Daughters of the Dust (1991) – Julie Dash

Where to Watch: Criterion Channel
Why: A visually lush rumination on a Gullah family’s lives and lineage set at the turn of the 20th century; it’s also an inspiration for many other artists, including Beyoncé, Solange, and Raven Jackson. Daughters of the Dust is also the first film directed by an African American woman to receive a wide release.

9. Middle of Nowhere (2012) – Ava DuVernay

Where to Watch: Netflix and Kanopy
Why: DuVernay won the 2012 Best Director Award at the Sundance Film Festival for this deeply personal look at the effects incarceration has on families through the perspective of a former medical student whose husband is imprisoned.

10. The Last Thing He Wanted (2020) – Dee Rees

Where to Watch: Netflix
Why: This movie was critically panned, and I am genuinely not sure why. This is an ambitious, muscular political action thriller about a reporter who becomes part of the story she’s trying to break when she helps her father broker an arms deal. It’s based on Joan Didion’s 1996 novel of the same name, with rich performances by Anne Hathaway, Rosie Perez, Ben Affleck and Edi Gathegi. It’s definitely worth your time.

11. Atlantics (2019) – Mati Diop
Where to Watch: Netflix
Why: A beautiful, elegiac film. A seamless blend of the realistic and the supernatural with some gorgeous visuals, good acting, and compelling sound design.

12. Miss Juneteenth (2020) – Channing Godfrey Peoples
Where to Watch: Netflix
Why: A charming, delightful, bittersweet gem of a film starring Nicole Beharie as a working-class mom and former beauty pageant winner in Texas who wants her rebellious daughter to follow in her footsteps and participate in the local Miss Juneteenth contest.

13. Time (2020) – Garrett Bradley
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Why: A visually stunning meditation on one woman’s decades-long fight for justice for her incarcerated husband.

14. A Dry White Season (1989) – Euzhan Palcy
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime and Tubi
Why: A visceral examination of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa.

15. The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel (2020) – Christine Swanson
Where to Watch: Tubi
Why: A charming look at the legendary Clark Sisters gospel singing group, anchored by an absolutely tour de force performance by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as family matriarch Mattie Moss Clark.

16. Rebirth Is Necessary (2017) – Jenn Nkiru
Where to Watch: YouTube
Why: A bold visual pastiche of Black diasporic musical and cultural traditions.

17. Our Father, the Devil (2021) – Ellie Foumbi
Where to Watch: Criterion Channel
Why: A chilling, intense psychological thriller carried by the amazing actress Babetida Sadjo. She stars as an African refugee whose quiet existence in a small French town is upended by the arrival of a charismatic Catholic priest she recognizes from a traumatic incident in her past.

18. You Can Go (2016) – Christine Turner
Where to Watch: Vimeo
Why: S. Epatha Merkerson gives a quietly heartbreaking performance as a school administrator trying to talk down a troubled student.

19. Pumzi (2009) – Wanuri Kahiu
Where to Watch: YouTube
Why: A sci-fi tale set in a futuristic Africa where a woman finds hope of new life.

20. Afronauts (2014) – Nuotama Bodomo
Where to Watch: YouTube
Why: A mesmerizing, Afrofuturistic take on the race to the moon in the 1960s.

21. A Love Song for Latasha (2020) – Sophia Nahli Allison
Where to Watch: Netflix
Why: A powerful experimental documentary that pays homage to Latasha Harlins through the voices of her family and friends.

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