Must-See Movies by Black Directors

Black History Month was recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, who urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” 

The accomplishments of black filmmakers are indelible, and Fabric is celebrating Black Directors this month by creating an important collection of movie titles highlighting their works. Fabric’s data service Origin offers “Collections” that links titles together based on shared universes, franchises, characters, authors, and editorial lists, helping its clients automate features in their service or inform their recommendation engines. 

Our Black Directors collection starts with the silent film Within Our Gates by Oscar Micheaux released in 1920 to the upcoming movie Michael, about popstar Michael Jackson releasing in October 2025 and directed by Antoine Fuqua.  Film greats like Spike Lee are represented with several titles as well as proven auteurs like Ava Duvernay, Steve McQueen, Barry Jenkins, Jordan Peele, and Ryan Coogler.  

The Black Director collection also includes up-and-coming talent such as Blitz Bazawule, Stefon Bristol, Chinonye Chukwu, Julius Onah, and JD Dillard that are making a mark. Clients just need to access the Collection ID 1850 to get the list of titles. For more information about collections, see our developer guide.

Cinema is all the better for these directors’ contributions and the future is very bright. 

To learn more about Fabric’s data service Origin, sign up for a demo here.