ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses selectively on the evolution of films by and about African-Americans. One rationale for this approach is that race relations between whites and blacks have proved to be the most enduring conflict in American society, as well as the one most often depicted in popular movies. Racial politics was still a hot topic in America in the 1980s, but filmmakers pretty much steered clear of it. The 1990s inaugurated some significant new trends in black cinema, although black films never attained truly consistent and widespread commercial success. The most widely viewed American black directors of the day are probably Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry. Daniels's work is the more overtly political. Today's mainstream black films include a range of settings and themes that heartens Kasi Lemmons: "It's what I always wished for. I always thought it would be an indicator of success, when we had a full spectrum of films".
