Criterion’s Maya Cade launches Black Film Archive

In June 2020, Maya Cade created a Twitter thread attempting to list every Black film released between 1910 and 1959, available to stream. The goal was to answer the question “What does it mean to make Black film knowledge accessible?”

here’s an ongoing thread of all the black films before 1959 i can find publicly available (streaming / public domain / rentals): https://t.co/6Ww6xEqMtw

— maya cade (@mayascade) June 10, 2020

Black Film Archive, expanded to include films until 1979, is her current response to that evolving question. Cade said: “For the past year, I’ve spent most of my time pondering one question: What does it mean to make Black film history accessible? Today, I’m proud to launch Black Film Archive, an evolving project that serves as my current response to this expansive question. In its first iteration, Black Film Archive lists every* Black film made between 1915 and 1979 currently streaming with every description written by yours truly. This free platform and open resource has been created with you all in mind. There are over 200 films for you to discover… right now!”

some news: today, i’m excited to launch https://t.co/lznpLOLd0J. this ever-expanding black film archive provides history and context to over 200 black films made from 1915 to 1979 currently streaming.

every description on the site is lovingly written & researched by me. pic.twitter.com/cKMNvqHO09

— maya cade (@mayascade) August 26, 2021

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