Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

'Black Power Mixtape' is a time capsule of history

One of the most powerful chapters in the film The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, involves a jailhouse interview with activist Angela Davis. In her full-blown afro and 1970s-style she's visibly frustrated as she tells a Swedish television interviewer why some black people had chosen to take up arms in the face of police harassment and racism. In her own words she explains how her family was terrorized by bombings in the south. It's a strong, stirring moment brought to us in living color, and one of the things that makes Black Power Mixtape an important movie about, not only black history, but world history. The film has already appeared at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It's a documentary that pulls together footage shot by a Swedish television crew investigating U.S. black culture and the Civil Rights movement between 1967 and 1975.The original television footage used to make the piece was found by chance by filmmaker Goran Hugo Olsson. Commentary by hip-hop stars and black intellectuals help tie the storyline together. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR 'THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE' HERE