Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. As a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story. Written by garykmcd
This film looks at life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district of Brooklyn on a hot summer Sunday. As he does everyday, Sal Fragione opens the pizza parlor he's owned for 25 years. The neighborhood has changed considerably in the time he's been there and is now composed primarily of African-Americans and Hispanics. His son Pino hates it there and would like nothing better than to relocate the eatery to their own neighborhood. For Sal however, the restaurant represents something that is part of his life and sees it as a part of the community. What begins as a simple complaint by one of his customers, Buggin Out - who wonders why he has only pictures of famous Italian-Americans on the wall when most of his customers are black - eventually disintegrates into violence as frustration seemingly brings out the worst in everyone. Written by garykmcd
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse. Written by Murray Chapman muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au
Dr. Elena Kinder and Dr. Heap work for BABYCO, the world's leading manufacturer in baby products. What the public doesn't know, however, is that Dr. Kinder and Dr. Heap are secretly working on cracking the code to "baby talk" which is actually a highly sophisticated language which allows babies to communicate the knowledge of the secrets of the universe with which they are born. Problems arise when Sly, the smartest of the babies, escapes from the lab and unites the babies of the outside world to help free the babies trapped in the lab. Kinder and Heap must find Sly before it is too late. Written by Anonymous
A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.
Devon Butler is an eight-year old who dreams of being a cop. He watches police TV shows, knows police procedures, and plays cops and robbers with his friend Ray. One day, while snooping around in a warehouse, he witnesses a murder. He goes to the police, who want the information, but won't get it until they make Devon a cop. The police then team him with veteran cop (and child hater) Nick McKenna, and the two team up in comic series of events to find the killer. Written by Stephen Currence billyc@erols.com
When a government-run lab accidentally lets loose a deadly virus, the population of the world is decimated. Survivors begin having dreams about two figures: a mystical old woman, or a foreboding, scary man.
Bobby Earl is facing the electric chair for the murder of a young girl. Eight years after the crime he calls in Paul Armstrong, a professor of law, to help prove his innocence. Armstrong quickly uncovers some overlooked evidence to present to the local police, but they aren't interested - Bobby was their killer. Written by Rob Hartill
The Cat People originated way back in time, when humans sacrificed their women to leopards, who mated with them. Cat People look similar to humans, but must mate with other Cat People before they transform into panthers. Irene Gallier was raised by adoptive parents and meets her older brother Paul for the first time since childhood. We follow brother and sister - who seem to be the only ones of their kind left. Written by Colin Tinto cst@imdb.com
The widows of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and how they carry on as single mothers after the assassination of their husbands.
1982, a film inspired by true events at the onset of the crack epidemic in Philadelphia, tells the story of a father and his efforts to protect his gifted daughter from the insidious epidemic which has literally come home via her drug-addicted mother. As his wife becomes more distant and unreliable, he struggles to raise his daughter on his own, while still striving to help his wife become clean. In the process, he learns some hard truths about his marriage and his life, which will ultimately test him as a parent, a husband, and a man
Politics makes strange bedfellows, but never stranger than when a sexy, savvy, African-American conservative Republican reluctantly falls for his Democratic counterpart: a beautiful Indian-American Obama campaign volunteer. Sparks fly, tempers flare, heads turn, and romance blossoms for this mismatched pair of lovers in the frantic and intoxicating days leading up to Election Day. Can the politics of love conquer all?
For a seventy-year period, when America cared little about the education of African-Americans, and discrimination was law and custom, The Bordentown School was an educational utopia. An incubator for black pride and intellect, it taught values, discipline, and life skills to generations of black children. This is the story of that remarkable school, as told by Bordentown alumni, historians, and remarkable archival footage. It is also the story of black education in America across three centuries, presenting a nuanced, rarely seen portrait of a separate black space; and a much-needed preface to the growing national discussion about historically black institutions and their role in nurturing identity and accomplishment. What was lost and what was gained in the march toward equality?
An army deserter and a black dock worker join forces against a corrupt union official.
Two young hoodlums (including a young Martin Sheen) terrorize the passengers of a late night New York City subway train.
For a brief moment in time, a few daring, innovative musicians stood at the crossroads of a revolution in music and culture. Across one of the most turbulent periods in American history-from the early Civil Rights Era to Watergate-they brought music, medium and message together as never before, composing a soundtrack perfectly tuned to the tempo and pulse of its time. Written by Jon Goodman
This intimate, uncannily moving documentary profiles Norma Canner, a pioneer in dance movement therapy, who found in dance a way to help people who had been discarded by society. The film traces the evolution of Norma's career from Broadway actress in the '40s, through her ground-breaking work in creative movement with disabled and mentally retarded children in the '60s, to her present work as a dance therapist with adults. Utilizing drawing, music, theater, and dance in the context of other modes of therapy, her work has proved extraordinarily beneficial for handicapped individuals, as well as providing cathartic healing experiences for those with deep emotional scars; And her work with children who were blind, deaf, or autistic has became a model.