Movie: Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

Top 10 Billed Cast

Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg

Narrator (voice)

Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett

Michael Boatman
Michael Boatman

Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne

Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle

Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis

Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee

Robert Guillaume
Robert Guillaume

Jasmine Guy
Jasmine Guy

Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson

  • HomePage

  • Overview

    When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.

  • Release Date

    2003-02-10

  • Average

    5.9

  • Rating:

    3.0 starts
  • Tagline

    In their words, our shared history.

  • Genres

  • Languages:

    English
  • Keywords

Recommendations Movies

Dune
74%

Dune(hu)

2020-06-15

Sounds as witnesses. They blurr into memories, half-dreams, it is undecided if they are real or not. A fluctuation between imagination and reality.

An Autumn Afternoon
79%

An Autumn Afternoon(ja)

1962-11-18

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

The Mayor of Rione Sanità
61%

The Mayor of Rione Sanità(it)

2019-09-30

Antonio Barracano is a respected man among the Neapolitan underworld, keeping order and administering justice according to his own criteria, beyond the law. One day he's faced with a dilemma after a young man asks him permission to kill his father.

Star!
69%

Star!(en)

1968-07-18

Gertrude Lawrence rises to stage stardom at the cost of happiness.

Muriel, or the Time of Return
68%

Muriel, or the Time of Return(fr)

1963-10-01

In the seaside town of Boulogne, no one seems to be able to cope with their past, least of all Hélène, an antique furniture saleswoman, her stepson Bernard, and her former lover Alphonse.

Come and See
82%

Come and See(ru)

1985-10-17

The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

Ressha Sentai ToQger Returns: Super ToQ #7 of Dreams
75%

Ressha Sentai ToQger Returns: Super ToQ #7 of Dreams(ja)

2015-06-24

The year is 2025, 10 years after the fight against Z. The ToQgers are all grown up and have now entered life. But one day, the Shadow Line reappears and the fight must resume. Right and his friends try to repel them but they can’t transform because they lack imagination. Fortunately for them, a mysterious purple warrior appears to save them. Will they be able to defeat the Evil Army Shadow Line once and for all? Will they find the ultimate imagination?

Six Weeks to Twelve Years
61%

Six Weeks to Twelve Years(en)

2020-09-30

After the death of their abusive father, two estranged twin brothers must reunite and sell off his property.

Secrets & Lies
76%

Secrets & Lies(en)

1996-05-24

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms
71%

Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms(zh)

2023-07-15

Based on the most well-known classical fantasy novel of China, Fengshenyanyi, the trilogy is a magnificent eastern high fantasy epic that recreates the prolonged mythical wars between humans, immortals and monsters, which happened more than three thousand years ago.

Yojimbo
81%

Yojimbo(ja)

1961-04-25

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
75%

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City(de)

1927-09-23

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

SlugTerra: Return of the Elementals
69%

SlugTerra: Return of the Elementals(en)

2014-08-02

A new member has joined Eli and the Shane Gang! Junjie, once the protector of the Eastern Caverns, is a master of the slugslinging art of Slug Fu! But even with the power of five slingers, the Shane Gang find themselves in over their heads as they race across The 99 Caverns in search of the Legendary Elemental Slugs. The five Elementals are ancient slugs of great power, and the forbearers of all slugs found in SlugTerra today. In the wrong hands, they could bring Slugterra to the brink of destruction. So when an evil alliance starts hunting down the Elementals, Eli and his friends — old and new — take off in pursuit of the greatest threat their world has ever faced!

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
71%

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages(en)

1916-09-04

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

Detective Knight: Independence
54%

Detective Knight: Independence(en)

2023-01-20

Detective James Knight 's last-minute assignment to the Independence Day shift turns into a race to stop an unbalanced ambulance EMT from imperiling the city's festivities. The misguided vigilante, playing cop with a stolen gun and uniform, has a bank vault full of reasons to put on his own fireworks show... one that will strike dangerously close to Knight's home.

Každému jeho nebe
0%

Každému jeho nebe(cs)

1982-05-07

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz
73%

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz(es)

1955-05-19

A bizarre black comedy about a man whose overwhelming ambition in life is to be a renowned serial killer of women, and will stop at nothing to achieve it - but not everything goes according to plan...

The Gold of Naples
73%

The Gold of Naples(it)

1954-12-03

A tribute to Naples, this film presents six episodes: a clown exploited by a gangster, a pizza seller losing her husband’s ring, a child's funeral, a gambler beaten by a kid, a prostitute's unusual wedding, and a "wisdom seller" offering advice.

Er
52%

Er(it)

2020-12-05

Kamen Rider W Returns: Kamen Rider Accel
66%

Kamen Rider W Returns: Kamen Rider Accel(ja)

2011-04-21

While settling into married life with Akiko, Ryu is brought into a case involving a woman named Katsuragi Aoi, a member of a pickpocketing ring with most of her teammates murdered from unknown masked vigilantes that Ryu fought as Accel. As the details of the case begin to unravel, Ryu is framed and Akiko believes that he may not be faithful to her. As the clock ticks down, Ryu must solve the case, clear his name, and save his marriage before everything comes to an explosive end!

Similar Movies

No Chains, No Masters
67%

No Chains, No Masters(fr)

2024-09-18

1759, Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean. The island is controlled by French settlers and the deported slave population live in fear while toiling in the sugar cane plantations. Unlike her disillusioned father Massamba, 16-year-old Mati refuses to keep her head down and accept her fate.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
0%

The Autobiography of Malcolm X(en)

2001-04-01

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is an account of the life of Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little in 1925, who became a human rights activist. Malcolm X was assassinated in New York's Audubon Ballroom in February 1965.

Spartacus
75%

Spartacus(en)

1960-10-13

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.

The Warrior
70%

The Warrior(ko)

2001-09-07

In 1375, China was in chaos between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Coryo (an ancient kingdom of Korea then) sent a delegation of many diplomats, soldiers and a silent slave to make peace with the new Chinese government. However, this delegation got charged as spies and sent in exile to a remote desert.

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
77%

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found(fr)

2024-11-22

More than 60,000 of Ernest Cole’s 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures he shot in the U.S. Told through Cole’s own writings, the stories of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation and will unravel the mystery of his missing negatives.

JFK
76%

JFK(en)

1991-12-20

Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.

Echoes 'Cross the Tracks
60%

Echoes 'Cross the Tracks(en)

2012-03-01

A powerful documentary starring Morgan Freeman about the genesis of The Blues in the South and the music spreading around the world. Morgan Freeman shares his story of his experience of growing up in Clarksdale, Mississippi and his love for the Blues.

Balkan Is Not Dead
73%

Balkan Is Not Dead(mk)

2013-01-01

A Macedonian family from Bitola at the turn of the twentieth century tries to survive, preserve its roots and remain together.

Apocalypto
76%

Apocalypto(en)

2006-12-07

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

The Marcus Garvey Story
0%

The Marcus Garvey Story(en)

Explore the tumultuous life of Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr., a Jamaican political activist and advocate for Black Nationalism. From founding UNIA-ACL and finding prosperity through economic ventures to navigating financial hardships, assassination attempts, and politically motivated criminal charges, Garvey's impactful odyssey throughout Jamaica and America left an enduring imprint on history.

Songs From the Sky
0%

Songs From the Sky(en)

2024-04-25

After Phyllis discovers that her daughter Cecilia can read, she’s torn between abiding to her slave owner’s commands or encouraging her daughter that reading is a pathway to their freedom.

A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy
90%

A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy(en)

1962-02-13

Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy was a television special featuring the First Lady of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy on a tour of the recently renovated White House. It was broadcast on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1962, on both CBS and NBC, and broadcast four days later on ABC. The program was the first ever First Lady televised tour of the White House, and has since been considered the first prime-time documentary specifically designed to appeal to a female audience.

The Ball Method
0%

The Ball Method(en)

2020-05-18

Alice Ball, a 23 year-old African American Chemist living in 1915 Hawaii fights against racial and gender barriers to find an effective treatment for leprosy before Kalani, a 10-year-old patient is exiled into the leper colony of Molokai.

Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities
81%

Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities(en)

2017-01-23

A haven for Black intellectuals, artists and revolutionaries—and path of promise toward the American dream—Black colleges and universities have educated the architects of freedom movements and cultivated leaders in every field. They have been unapologetically Black for 150 years. For the first time ever, their story is told.

Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power
20%

Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power(en)

2022-12-02

Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, this documentary tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County, Alabama.

The Alamo
71%

The Alamo(en)

1960-10-23

The legendary true story of a small band of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in hopeless combat against a massive army in order to prevent a tyrant from smashing the new Republic of Texas.

When We Were Kings
77%

When We Were Kings(en)

1996-10-25

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.

For Love & Country
20%

For Love & Country(en)

2022-04-07

Country music has always been Black music. For Love & Country examines the genre's past through the lens of a new generation of Black artists claiming space in Nashville, and transforming country music in the process.

The Whole Gritty City
80%

The Whole Gritty City(en)

2013-10-12

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.