Signed to HBO Films and to be screened on the premium channel on Aug. 25, "The Black List" is a series of talks with 21 of the most well-known contemporary African-Americans. Consisting of nothing but interviews, the occasional archival photo, a steady muted string soundtrack and inter-segment fade-outs to pastels, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' project features a consistent barrage of wit and wisdom from these famous names, as interviewed by an unseen, but clearly inspirational, Elvis Mitchell.
Beginning with former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash (who knew he was black?) commenting that he appears as an entry in a book on influential Jews, the filmmakers talk with famous athletes, politicians, writers, dancers and lawyers about how they view the state of the black celebrity by weaving in touching personal anecdotes. Greenfield-Sanders noted the timeliness of screening the film on the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death and in the midst of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The predominantly white audience couldn't agree more, sighing and clapping on each invisible cue when so moved by the apparent (thanks to the power of editing) soliloquies.
Keenen Ivory Wayans and Chris Rock expectedly provide the most entertaining segments, but Colin Powell and Al Sharpton were the true stars. Powell delivers his trademarked reassurance and knowledge, urging citizens to wake up from the present "2nd Civil War," but Sharpton proves, as he did in "When The Levees Broke," that he is the go-to guy for enlightening analysis on racial equality in documentary films. His labeling of the current youth "hip-hop culture" as lacking the roots of previous generations and, as a result, behaving in a manner that validates every negative stereotype that whites have of blacks, is entirely accurate. It is this brand of foresight delivered through intelligent language that has the potential to motivate all races towards greater tolerance and is on par with the frequently-labeled "radical" behavior of fellow black leaders such as Spike Lee. After "The Black List," it will hopefully become more evident that "radical" is a harsh substitute for "wisdom and courage."
Greenfield-Sanders noted in the following Q&A at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival on April 4, 2008, that race "is always at the surface" and that the producers are working with Scholastic to get the film and its message into the classrooms. The eventual goal is to have kids upload their own stories on a website in order for them to hopefully realize that we aren't that different as humans through our stories. The film's intent is honorable and overall it is cinematically successful on all fronts. I wish it the best in its endeavors and hope that the intended multiple future chapters will be realized.