Paul & Eslanda Robeson Cinema

In October 1972, nine Black men and one white woman were wrongfully convicted of arson and conspiracy and sentenced by the North Carolina state court to 282 collective years in prison. An international cause célèbre, the so-called Wilmington 10 languished for nearly a decade in separate jails, even as journalists and lawyers exposed criminal wrongdoing in the State’s case; religious leaders, politicians, and activists demanded their release and exoneration; and the Soviet Union brandished their photos as a symbol of American hypocrisy and racism.

"Now Is the Time" (1967) is a short documentary film that utilizes newsreel footage, literature, and archival materials to explore the history of Black resistance and anger in the United States. The film connects earlier African American writers, such as Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, with the Black Power movement. It was produced during the late 1960s to contextualize the rise of Black nationalism and address the American experience of slavery and inequality.

I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1982) isa documentary following author and activist James Baldwin as he retraces his steps through the American South—including Selma, Birmingham, and Atlanta—revisiting pivotal sites of the Civil Rights Movement. Baldwin assesses the progress made since the 1960s, documenting the ongoing struggles with inequality.

Join us Thursday, Feb 5th at 7PM for the first film in our 100 Years of Black History Month Film Program organized by Daniel Simmons III. For the first film of the series we’ll be viewing “Walter Rodney: What They Don’t Want You to Know” directed by Arlen Harris and Danial Harris-Vajda

FILM SCREENING: Kangamba • Kangamba is realistic portrayal of a August 1983 battle in the People’s Republic of Angola, when Cuban volunteer troops and their comrades-in-arms, the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) were under a brutal attack by the UNITA forces, who were armed and organized by the racist, apartheid regime of South Africa.

FILM SCREENING: Mother of All Lies • A Moroccan filmmaker investigates her family's history, uncovering lies. She connects personal and national narratives, linking the 1981 Bread Riots to contemporary Morocco.

A young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of witch in a small old wooden church of a remote village.

Through courtroom drama, ideological transformation, and real-life tragedy, the film offers a sobering portrait of Black resistance in late-60s and early-70s America.

Miss Juneteenth is a poignant and heartfelt drama that follows Turquoise Jones, a former beauty queen and single mother in Fort Worth, Texas, who is determined to give her teenage daughter, Kai, the opportunities she never had. Once crowned Miss Juneteenth—a local pageant offering a scholarship to historically Black colleges—Turquoise’s life didn’t go as planned. Now working at a bar and struggling to make ends meet, she pours her hopes into preparing Kai for the same pageant, hoping it will open doors to a brighter future.

In the midst of historic upheaval in Colombia, Senator Gustavo Petro, a former M-19 guerrilla leader, is the early front runner for president in 2022. Petro begins in September 2021 at the launch event of Petro’s campaign. With unprecedented access to Colombia’s most charismatic and polarizing politician, the film follows the highs and lows of the Colombian progressive movement and Petro's historic campaign for president through Election Day.

A record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.