Black Pioneers in Film Directing

Successful African American and Black British Movie Directors

Sep 12, 2009

Profiles of directors who overcame humble beginnings and minority status to produce ground-breaking motion pictures

Gordon Parks was Hollywood's first African-American film director when The Learning Tree based on his autobiography was released in 1969, and he also directed the cult classic Shaft in 1971.

Since then various Black directors have achieved success and respect in Hollywood.

Melvin Van Peebles

Melvin Van Peebles' Sweet SweetBack's Badasssss Song heralded the beginning of major African-American involvement in film-making.

Born in Chicago in 1932, Van Peebles couldn't get hired in Hollywood until one of his short films was showcased in Europe and caught the attention of US producers, who thought it was by a French director. They eventually financed his first feature-length comedy The Watermelon Man in 1970.

Van Peebles then wrote, directed and financed Sweet SweetBack's Badasssss Song in 1971 about a man on the run from the police who were trying to frame him for murder. Its success led to an era of films produced and directed by African-Americans and was also the catalyst for the Blaxploitation film genre, featuring African-Americans in heroic, non-conformist roles like Super Fly (1972) and Foxy Brown (1974).

John Singleton

Straight out of film school, John Singleton's directorial debut Boyz N Da Hood (1991) captivated audiences and won him a Best Screenplay and Best Director Oscar nominations, the first African-American to be so honoured and at 23, was also the youngest ever nominee.

The drama about three young men trying to survive the harsh realities of their Los Angeles ghetto (where Singleton grew up) was a fresh insight into Black urban life and was widely praised by critics for its gritty realism.

Singleton's run of high impact films featuring young African-Americans continued with Poetic Justice (1993) and Higher Learning (1995), which were followed by better financed and commercially successful productions including a remake of Shaft in 2000 and revenge thriller Four Brothers in 2005.

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry is Hollywood's 'Mr Reliable' due to his string of top-grossing movies. He is the first African-American director to own a film studio and is also a successful playwright, television producer and author.

Born in New Orleans in 1969, Perry's original creative domain was the stage were his plays are huge hits with the African-American community. Then he burst onto the big screen in 2005 with Diary of a Mad Black Woman, a drama/comedy about a mistreated woman who finds faith and forgiveness thanks to advice from her outrageous grandmother Madea (played by Perry in drag - a recurring comical character in his films).

The film surprised Hollywood by opening at No. 1 and marked the beginning of Perry's run as the wealthiest and most successful Black director in terms of high gross figures ($400 worldwide) for each of his films.

Noel Clarke

Born to a single mother in London in 1975, Noel Clarke was best known as a TV actor (Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Doctor Who) until he wrote Kidulthood in 2006 about eight teenagers navigating the perils of inner-city London based on real characters and situations from his life.

The film exposed him to a younger, urban audience and was a surprise hit, The Daily Mirror stated "[Kidulthood] is as potent as a shot of vodka before breakfast - a harrowing, uncompromisingly bleak but thoughtful look at the anguish of being young and poor in Britain."

Clarke then wrote, directed and starred in the sequel Adulthood in 2008 which earned him a BAFTA award and turned him into "one of the most sought after young directors in the British Film industry".

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Ex-television writer Gina Prince-Bythewood is the most high profile African-American female director in Hollywood.

Born in 1969, Bythewood's directorial debut Love and Basketball (2000) became an African-American favourite, and The Secret Life of Bees (2008) about a lonely white girl in 60s South Carolina escaping tragedy and finding comfort in the home of a group of affluent African-American sisters (played by Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo and Jennifer Hudson) opened to favourable reviews and healthy takings at the box office.

Spike Lee

With over 35 films to his name, Spike Lee is the most prolific and best known African-American director in Hollywood.

Born in 1957, the Atlanta native's first film She's Gotta Have It (1986) cost $175,000, made $7 million and propelled him to prominence, and Do The Right Thing (1989), about tensions rising in a multi-ethnic Brooklyn neighbourhood on the hottest day of the year earned him a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination.

Lee's focus on race and racism reached a climax in the epic Malcolm X (1992) which earned Denzel Washington a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the civil rights activist and also featured Lee in a starring role (he appeared in most of his early movies).

Lee's documentaries are also notable for their unflinching investigations into African-American tragedies, like Four Little Girls (1997) about the Alabama Church bombing which was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar and When the Levees Broke (2006) about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

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