Maya S. Cade
Creator and Curator, Black Film Archive (blackfilmarchive.com)
USA
Voted for
| Film | Year | Director |
|---|---|---|
| Daughters of the Dust | 1991 | Julie Dash |
| A Matter of Life and Death | 1946 | Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger |
| Moonlight | 2016 | Barry Jenkins |
| Losing Ground | 1982 | Kathleen Collins |
| The Apartment | 1960 | Billy Wilder |
| Killer of Sheep | 1977 | Charles Burnett |
| Nothing but a Man | 1964 | Michael Roemer |
| Time | 2020 | Garrett Bradley |
| North by Northwest | 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| Design for Living | 1933 | Ernst Lubitsch |
Comments
Choosing ten great films is an impossible task. My impulses are guided by being Black and a woman. A perspective I am often called, indirectly, to shrink in order to be a 'cinephile'. I know, however, that my perspective is a place of expansion.
In truth, I am a fan of the usual suspects that appear on these lists (8½, Breathless, Sunset Blvd., Late Spring, 2001, et al.) but arrived at my final list by questioning the idea of only restating the status quo as some show of my depth of understanding. The films listed have expanded my scope of what cinema can be. They are euphoric, rich, awe-inspiring, and use love as a guide. That is great cinema.