THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE: 1967-1975

Year: 2011
USA: IFC Films
UK: Soda Pictures
Cast: Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Stokely Carmichael, Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis, Danny Glover, Talib Kweli, Bobby Seale, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Country: Sweden
USA: 100 mins
UK: 96 mins
USA Rated: Unrated
UK Certificate: 12A contains drug references and images of violence
USA Release Date: 9 September 2011 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 21 October 2011 (Limited Release)

Synopsis

THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975 mobilises a treasure trove of 16mm material shot by Swedish journalists who came to the US drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution. Gaining access to many of the leaders of the Black Power Movement - Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver among them - the filmmakers captured them in intimate moments and remarkably unguarded interviews.

Some 30 years later, this unique collection was uncovered in the basement of Swedish Television. Director Göran Olsson and co-producer Danny Glover bring this footage to light in a mosaic of images, music and narration chronicling the evolution one of our nation's most indelible turning points, the Black Power movement.

With music by Questlove and Om'Mas Keith, the film contains commentary from prominent African- American artists and activists who were influenced by the struggle, including Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Talib Kweli and Melvin Van Peebles. All this helps to give the historical footage a fresh, contemporary resonance and makes the film an exhilarating, unprecedented account of an American revolution.