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Neorealism in Black Cinema

When we look at the original definition of neorealism as it pertains to cinema (a cultural movement that brings elements of true life in the stories it describes, rather than a world mainly existing in imagination only), are we still creating that type of work today, particularly in Black cinema? Or are we stuck in Blaxploitation mode? Or are they one in the same? Do Black women have a voice in the neorealism cinema movement? Just some things I've been pondering lately....

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Permalink Reply by Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke on August 14, 2008 at 12:39pm: I miss films like Daughters of the Dust, The Dorothy Dandgridge Story, and The Josephine Baker Sotry. Eve's Bayou was also a great favorite. I hope more of our stories get told. We have to tell them. I do know this. I love what Queen Latifah did with the short films on African women. I am excited about the Internet and the way it makes it easier for folks to share their art. So may be the gateway of films about our lives. We have to use it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by K.D.Williams on August 17, 2008 at 3:02pm: This question is going to make me thing very hard and for very long. Unfortunatley I do not have the time to fully flesh out a reply right now. I like that you include the possibility that Blaxploitation and neorealism are the same. While I don't think that they are, and I also don't think we are stuck in Blaxploitation mode, I do think that it is necessary to recognize some of the positive and also very real attributes of genres that tend to be dismissed as a valley point on our cultural landscape.; ▶ Reply to This