Seventies era cinema saw the launch of a whole new type of movie – the blaxploitation film. Films like Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Shaft, and of course Foxy Brown! The films targeted black audiences, and included crime dramas, martial arts flics, and of course action – lots of action. As black actors began to make it on mainstream screens, interest in blaxploitation films waned. But the world keeps turning and Hollywood keeps looking backward. And now, decades later, there’s a resurgence of interest in the genre.

To find out more we turn to Floyd Webb. He’s filmmaker, and lectures on African American cinema. He’s also the curator of a series called Black World Cinema at IceTheaters on the South Side of Chicago.

Screening:
Black
Tonight; post-discussion is at 7
Ice Theaters