Synopsis
Examines the evolution of the Black Power Movement in US society from 1967 to 1975. It features footage of the movement shot by Swedish journalists in the United States during that period and includes the appearances of Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and other activists, artists, and leaders central to the movement.
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Cast
- Abiodun OyewoleSelf (voice)
- Talib KweliSelf (voice)
- Angela DavisSelf (voice)
- Harry BelafonteSelf (voice)
- Stokely CarmichaelSelf (archive footage)
- Erykah BaduSelf (voice)
- Sonia SánchezSelf (voice)
- Kathleen CleaverSelf (voice)
- Bobby SealeSelf (voice)
- Robin KelleySelf (voice)
Recommendations
- 83
Entertainment Weekly
A tangy raw stew of history, even if it never begins to confront the contradictions that bedeviled black militancy. - 80
Time Out
The pieces here are wonderful, even if the documentary fails to make any kind of overall analytical point. - 80
Village Voice
Black nationalism lives and breathes in this remarkably fresh documentary - a standout in last spring's New Directors/New Films - assembled by Göran Hugo Olsson. - 75
The A.V. Club
Illustrates how the rhetoric of civil rights changed after the breakthroughs of Martin Luther King. With the world's media finally paying attention, critical thinkers like Carmichael, Davis, and Malcolm X were able to push back against the fretful questions about violence, and redefine the story of blacks in America over the centuries as one defined by violence. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
This is a film that should be seen by anyone who wants to learn where we've come from as a nation. - 70
Variety
Like any mixtape, it offers some truly transcendent moments alongside a smattering of filler, and never quite assembles its pieces into a cohesive whole. - 70
The New York Times
The fact that the speakers' faces are never seen produces a feeling of estrangement that is crucial to the film's effectiveness. You become acutely aware of gaps and discontinuities: between slogans and realities, between political ideals and stubborn social problems, between then and now. - 70
Los Angeles Times
Black Power Mixtape's contemporary audio, though it tries hard to involve us, can't hold a candle to this kind of footage. But if having these current voices on board helped get the luminous glimpses of the past back on the screen, we owe them a vote of thanks.
