The Black Star podcast

A podcast mini-series highlighting six black stars who made a lasting impact on Hollywood and beyond. Part of the BFI’s Black Star season — a series of screenings and events celebrating the power and versatility of black acting talent.

Latest episode

Black Star 1990-2016: Tyler Perry's takeover

Tyler Perry became a media power player through Madea, his riotous spin on the mammy stereotype. In the final episode of our Black Star mini-series, we look at how stars like Perry, Spike Lee and Shonda Rhimes have begun to re-wire the industry

Previous episodes

Black Star 1970-90: Whoopi Goldberg and the black megastar

Back to the 90s and the ascent of the black star as box office titan. Following in the footsteps of Pam Grier and Richard Pryor, actors like Eddie Murphy and Whoopi Goldberg used their immense popularity as comedians to push for top billing and some of the biggest pay packets in the business.
Black Star 1970-80: Blaxploitation hits, doesn't quit

The one, the only, the mighty … Pam Grier. This week the Black Star podcast pays tribute to the figurehead of the Blaxploitation movement: a star who became one of the only black women to take the fight to the men in the action genre.
Black Star 1950-1970: Risk, reward and revolution - the black star as activist

The Black Star podcast continues with the story of a civil rights campaigner, who also happened to be one of the 1950s’ biggest movie stars: Harry Belafonte.
Black Star podcast 1940-50: The bittersweet success of the first black Oscar winner

The first black person to win an Oscar, Hattie McDaniel struggled to escape the maid archetype that was the source of her success. We ask how much black star’s casting options have improved since Hattie’s time.
Black Star podcast 1900-1940: The pioneer spirit of Oscar Micheaux

The story of Oscar Micheaux, one of the first black film directors and a prototype movie mogul who vied with DW Griffith to control the conversation about race in America in the early 20th century.