Black History Month Films

Black History Month has been celebrated in the UK for over 35 years, remembering people and events in the history of the African Diaspora. This year, Dogwoof presents Marc Silver’s 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, Stanley Nelson’s The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution and Sacha Jenkins' Fresh Dressed.

To celebrate the film's releases we have made special double sided postcards of the films which can be found across cinemas in the UK over the next month.

3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets - 2 October

3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets explores the murder of black teenager Jordan Davis, after he engaged in a verbal dispute with Michael Dunn, a white middle-aged man about the volume of the music coming from his car. Michael Dunn fired 10 bullets into the car of unarmed teenagers and then fled, leaving Jordan Davis dead. In court Michael Dunn claimed he shot in self-defence, but with no evidence that the teenagers were armed, his story lacked credibility. The film follows Jordan’s parents and friends as they fight for justice as well as grapple with an unimaginable loss. Although, the documentary does not celebrate history or an achievement, it raises awareness of how hidden racial prejudices can too often result in tragedy. It's beautifully shot and includes footage from police tapes, trial recordings and even Dunn’s own private phone conversations.

http://www.3andahalfminutes.com/ 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets is now showing in cinemas and available on demand. In 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, two lives intersected and were forever altered. On Black Friday in 2012, two cars parked next to each other at a Florida gas station.

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution - 23 October

Black History Month is a celebration of history and culture, and The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution closely celebrates both. As the first feature length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, it provides an essential chronicle of this pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America. It explores the parties cultural and political awakening, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails.

http://www.theblackpanthers.co.uk/ The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is now available on DVD in the UK and Ireland. Change was coming to America and the fault lines could no longer be ignored - cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, and disputes raged over equality and civil rights.

Fresh Dressed - 30 October

Fresh Dressed is a fascinating, fun-to-watch chronicle of hip-hop, urban fashion, and the hustle that brought oversized pants and graffiti-drenched jackets from Orchard Street to high fashion's catwalks and Middle America shopping malls. The film looks at Black Culture in America, what it means to be fresh and how sheer originality and swagger brought this style into the mainstream.

http://www.freshdressed.co.uk/ Fresh Dressed is coming to cinemas 30 October With funky, fat-laced Adidas, Kangol hats, and Cazal shades, a totally original look was born-Fresh-and it came from the black and brown side of town where another cultural force was revvingup in the streets to take the world by storm.