How do you define Black cinema? It’s a question that’s seemingly impossible to answer, given its vast and rich history, but one that feels more urgent than ever as the Trump administration is actively attempting to erase Black history and culture. The writer and Criterion Collection’s Curatorial Director Ashley Clark, however, has proven he’s more than up to the challenge with The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films. The book is a dazzling and expansive chronological survey of over a century’s worth of Black films, spanning multiple countries and genres, and makes the case that Black cinema is not only global in its scope but also accessible in its reach.
Criterion’s Ashley Clark: Loving Black Cinema Also Means Protecting It
