In February, the Colonial presents the “Celebrating Black Artists Film Series.” Join us as we celebrate directors, actors, and stories that continue to shape the world and cinema today.

All times are subject to change. Additional titles to be added soon!

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (50th-Anniversary Screening). Top baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) is fed up with how his Negro League team owner treats him, so he forms his own lineup, recruiting big-hitting Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) and Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor), who dreams of playing in the majors. Boycotted by black teams, Long’s outfit play minor league white teams, earning more attention as entertainers than as players. However, their success wins them a chance to play again in the Negro League, this time as equals. Sunday, Feb 1st.
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Killer of Sheep. In Watts, an urban and mostly African-American section of Los Angeles, Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders) spends his days toiling away at a local slaughterhouse. His macabre profession seeps into his personal life as he struggles to keep his family afloat and content. Other life situations also prove to be difficult, since it seems that dark intentions lurk within the people he meets outside his family. The layers of stress cause Stan to question whether a better quality of life is possible. Wednesday, Feb 4th.
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Malcolm X. A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride. Sunday, Feb 15th.
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Oscar Micheaux’s Within Our Gates (1920) – With Live Theatre Organ Accompaniment by Tedde Gibson. In this early silent film from pioneering director Oscar Micheaux, kindly Sylvia Landry (Flo Clements) takes a fundraising trip to Boston in hopes of collecting $5,000 to keep a Southern school for impoverished black children open to the public. She then meets the warmhearted Dr. Vivian (William Smith), who falls in love with Sylvia and travels with her back to the South. There, Dr. Vivian learns about Sylvia’s shocking, tragic past and realizes that racism has changed her life forever. Sunday, Feb 22nd.
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