Daughters of the Dust
Release date: December 27, 1991 (USA)
Director: Julie Dash
At the dawn of the 20th century, a family in the Gullah community of coastal South Carolina — former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors’ Yoruba traditions — suffers a generational split. Young Haagar (Kaycee Moore) wants to move to the mainland away from tradition-bound matriarch Nana (Cora Lee Day). Former prostitute Yellow Mary (Barbara-O) gets a cold shoulder when she returns to the island with her female lover, especially from her sister Viola (Cheryl Lynn Bruce).

Eve’s Bayou
Initial release: May 20, 1998 (Belgium)
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer, a 10-year-old black girl, Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett), discovers that her family’s affluent existence is merely a facade. The philandering of her suave doctor father, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), creates a rift, throwing Eve’s mother, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), and teenage sister, Cisely (Meagan Good), into emotional turmoil. Eve, though, manages to find some solace with her quirky psychic aunt, Mozelle (Debbi Morgan).

Fruitvale Station
Release date: July 12, 2013 (USA)
Director: Ryan Coogler
Though he once spent time in San Quentin, 22-year-old black man Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) is now trying hard to live a clean life and support his girlfriend (Melonie Diaz) and young daughter (Ariana Neal). Flashbacks reveal the last day in Oscar’s life, in which he accompanied his family and friends to San Francisco to watch fireworks on New Year’s Eve, and, on the way back home, became swept up in an altercation with police that ended in tragedy. Based on a true story.

Girl’s Trip
Release date: July 21, 2017 (USA)
Director: Malcolm D. Lee
Release date: March 20, 1987 (USA)
Director: Robert Townsend
Four best friends, known as the Flossy Posse, have grown apart over the years. Yet when one of the friends is offered an opportunity to be a keynote speaker at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, she decides to bring along her friends to turn her work vacation into a girl’s trip. Along the way, they rekindle their wild side by dancing, drinking, brawling and romancing to excess.

Hollywood Shuffle
Release date: March 20, 1987 (USA)
Director: Robert Townsend
Aspiring actor and hot-dog stand employee Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) catches the ire of his grandmother (Helen Martin) for auditioning for a role in the regrettably titled exploitation film “Jivetime Jimmy’s Revenge.” When Tinseltown Studios casts Taylor in the title role, he has a series of conflicted dreams satirizing African-American stereotypes in Hollywood, and must reconcile his career goals with his desire to remain a positive role model for his little brother (Craigus R. Johnson).

Mo’ Betta Blues
Release date: August 3, 1990 (USA)
Director: Spike Lee
Financially irresponsible Giant (Spike Lee) manages a jazz group, but his sax player, Shadow (Wesley Snipes), wants to replace him with a better businessman. Bleak (Denzel Washington), the band’s trumpeter, then tries to defend his close pal Giant, leading to a power struggle between the two musicians. Meanwhile, as Bleak tries to straighten things out with his band mates and manager, he also must choose to be with either sweet teacher Indigo (Joie Lee) or sultry singer Clarke (Cynda Williams).

Pariah
Release date: December 28, 2011 (USA)
Director: Dee Rees
Teenage Alike (Adepero Oduye) lives in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood with her parents (Charles Parnell, Kim Wayans) and younger sister (Sahra Mellesse). A lesbian, Alike quietly embraces her identity and is looking for her first lover, but she wonders how much she can truly confide in her family, especially with her parents’ marriage already strained. When Alike’s mother presses her to befriend a colleague’s daughter (Aasha Davis), Alike finds the gal to be a pleasant companion.

Sorry To Bother You
Initial release: December 13, 2018 (Brazil)
Director: Boots Riley
In an alternate reality of present-day Oakland, Calif., telemarketer Cassius Green finds himself in a macabre universe after he discovers a magical key that leads to material glory. As Green’s career begins to take off, his friends and co-workers organize a protest against corporate oppression. Cassius soon falls under the spell of Steve Lift, a cocaine-snorting CEO who offers him a salary beyond his wildest dreams.

Waiting To Exhale
Release date: December 22, 1995 (USA)
Director: Forest Whitaker
Story by: Terry McMillan
Navigating through careers, family and romance, four friends bond over the shortcomings in their love lives — namely, the scarcity of good men. Both as the “other woman,” Savannah (Whitney Houston) and Robin (Lela Rochon) carry on relationships with married men, each believing their lovers will leave their wives for them. On the flip side, Bernadine (Angela Bassett) ends up alone when her husband divorces her for his mistress. Meanwhile, Gloria (Loretta Devine) finds love with a new neighbor.

Widows
Release date: November 16, 2018 (USA)
Director: Steve McQueen
Based on: Widows; by Lynda La Plante
A police shootout leaves four thieves dead during an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago. Their widows — Veronica, Linda, Alice and Belle — have nothing in common except a debt left behind by their spouses’ criminal activities. Hoping to forge a future on their own terms, Veronica joins forces with the other three women to pull off a heist that her husband was planning.