2023 was another banner year for films featuring Black stars and storylines pertinent to our experiences. From sci-fi to horror, from rom-coms to documentaries, films about Blackness showed us more about each other and ourselves. Here are some of the biggest films from the year. The Color Purple Starring Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson, The Color Purple is the latest adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 book. In fact, this The Color Purple is the musical film adaptation of the Broadway musical that is also based on Walker’s novel. Like all of its iterations, this film follows Celie, a Black woman in 1900s Georgia who is trapped in an abusive relationship and is desperate to find her own voice. Through other women, such as Henson’s Shug Avery and Brooks’ Sophia, Celie is able to discover herself and free herself from her marriage to Mister (Colman Domingo). Fantasia told Shadow and Act how proud she is of director Blitz Bazawule for focusing on the story’s message...
