Richard Wright: Native Son, Author and Activist
Top 1 Billed Cast
Self
HomePage
Overview
RICHARD WRIGHT was an African-American author of novels, short stories and non-fiction that dealt with powerful themes and controversial topics. Much of his works concerned racial themes that helped redefine discussions of race relations in America in the mid-20th century. Born on a plantation in Mississippi, Wright was a descendent of the first slaves who arrived in Jamestown Massachusetts. This program follows his arduous path from sharecropper to literary giant. Through authors like H.L. Menken, Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, he discovered that literature could be used as a catalyst for social change. In 1937 Wright moved to New York and his work began to garner national attention for it's political and social commentary. Much of Wright's writing focused on the African American community and experience; his novel Native Son won him a Guggenheim Fellowship and was adapted to the Broadway stage with Orson Welles directing in 1941.
Release Date
2009-01-01
Average
0
Rating:
0.0 startsTagline
Genres
Languages:
Keywords
Similar Movies
This Is Joan Collins(en)
A feature-length documentary on the life of one of the last surviving actresses from the golden age of Hollywood – Joan Collins. This epic film is told from the ringside as Joan narrates her rollercoaster life story with her inimitable wit and verve. A worldwide television phenomenon with her decade-defining role in Dynasty, Collins shares her extraordinary archive and never before seen home movie footage, giving an intimate glimpse into one of the world’s most iconic figures. Against a backdrop of Collins’s own narration, her story showcases the extraordinary life of a woman who has lived through the glitz, the glamour and the enduring moments of Hollywood history, and survived it all with panache.
Made for More(en)
Are you ready for a girl’s night out unlike anything you’ve experienced before? Fresh off the success of her best-selling Girl, Wash Your Face, author, mama of four, CEO/founder of popular The Chic Site blog Rachel Hollis’ is taking the audience on an inside look at chasing the biggest of dreams. Rachel Hollis’ belief that she’s here to change the world will inspire you to believe you can do the same. It’s that belief that had her start a live event series where women who don’t look the same, vote the same or act the same come together to be inspired, supported and enveloped in community. Believing you’re enough, that you can chase the biggest dreams – they’re all tackled in the documentary capturing the conquering of Rachel’s own fears and trusting her gut. This is your chance to get a peek inside and then have a Q&A with Rachel after the show. This is promised to be a night you and your girlfriends will never forget!
Henry Browne, Farmer(en)
Henry Browne, an African American farmer, and his family are profiled in this film. The important job of a farmer during times of war is highlighted, specifically his efforts growing peanuts and cotton. This role is made even more poingnant when they visit the eldest son who is a cadet in the 99th Pursuit Squadron.
The Fantasy Makers(en)
The Fantasy Makers is a feature documentary which examines the profound impact fantasy pioneers C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and George MacDonald have made on popular culture to this day. This film interviews scholars, writers, filmmakers and lovers of the fantasy genre throughout the world.
When We Were Kings(en)
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
Shadows Fall North(en)
How does a state with the motto “Live Free or Die” and a celebrated legacy of abolitionism confront and understand its participation in slavery, segregation, and the neglect of African-American history? What happens when we move toward a fuller understanding of our history by including all voices? No other documentary has explored Black history in New Hampshire, no less Black history in New England. Shadows Fall North brings to light a forgotten history and continues a dialogue that is more important today than ever before. Without acknowledging our past, accepting it and embracing it, we will never move forward in our actions about race in this country.
The Whole Gritty City(en)
Young members of 3 New Orleans school marching bands grow up in America's most musical city, and one of its most dangerous. Their band directors get them ready to perform in the Mardi Gras parades, and teach them to succeed and to survive.
L'acte de la beauté(fr)
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women(en)
Louisa May Alcott, author of "Little Women," leads a literary double life, writing under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, an identity that remains until the 1940s.
I Am Not Your Negro(en)
Working from the text of James Baldwin’s unfinished final novel, director Raoul Peck creates a meditation on what it means to be Black in the United States.
Philip K Dick: A Day in the Afterlife(en)
A poetic look at the life and legacy of legendary author Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), who wrote over over a hundred short stories and 44 novels of mind-bending sci-fi, exploring themes of authority, drugs, theology, mental illness and much more.
Charley Pride: I'm Just Me(en)
This film traces the improbable journey of Charley Pride, from his humble beginnings as a sharecropper’s son on a cotton farm in segregated Sledge, Mississippi to his career as a Negro American League baseball player and his meteoric rise as a trailblazing country music superstar. The new documentary reveals how Pride’s love for music led him from the Delta to a larger, grander world.
Breath of Freedom(en)
In World War II. African-American GIs liberate Germany from Nazi rule while racism prevailed in their own army and home country. Returning home they continue fighting for their own rights in the civil rights movement.
Mircea Eliade et la redécouverte du sacré(fr)
Mircea Eliade was a traditionalist Romanian novelist and philosopher. Following the disaster of the Second World War, he moved to Paris and Chicago, becoming a respected and influential historian of religions. He acquired something of the status of a guru, as poignantly told in the 1987 documentary Mircea Eliade et la redécouverte du sacré. The film features interviews with Eliade at the end of his life, artfully spliced with cuts to religious imagery on a background of moving spiritual music. It was released in 1987, the year after his death.
Still A Brother: Inside the Negro Middle Class(en)
The Black middle class, torn between white goals and Black needs, are examined by producers William Greaves and William Branch in a 90-minute NET Journal documentary.
Kathy Acker(en)
Documentary about Kathy Acker where she talks about her writing and her life in New York.
No Regret(en)
Five gay Black men who are HIV-positive discuss how they are battling the double stigmas surrounding their infection and homosexuality.
Beatrix Potter with Patricia Routledge(en)
Patricia Routledge, as patron of the Beatrix Potter Society, presents a documentary on the author's life and work.