James Baldwin at the Movies

Whether in his deeply personal Notes of a Native Son or his acclaimed Go Tell It on the Mountain, the brilliant novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and civil rights activist James Baldwin (1924–1987) always spoke through his writing with an incredible urgency and resonance. His convictions became further accessible through frequent televised appearances and lectures on college campuses in the 1960s, holding those in power accountable with his commanding delivery (he trained as a preacher in his youth) and sharp tongue. His persisting message, which insists on equality and humanity, remains alive today thanks to filmmakers who have supplied nuanced views on the writer and orator that artfully supplement his legacy. On the occasion of Baldwin’s centenary, the Academy Museum presents a series of films adapted from his literary works alongside documentaries that spent time with Baldwin while he was alive and posthumous pieces that reflect on his remarkable legacy.