MIFF: I am not your Negro

The story of the negro in America is the story of America. This is the key idea behind director Raoul Peck’s Oscar nominated documentary, I Am Not Your Negro. Based on an unpublished manuscript, Remember This House, by African American writer and activist, James Baldwin, Peck’s film examines the history of race relations in America from the civil rights movement up to the systemic violence and prejudice Black America continues to face today.

I Am Not Your Negro frames its exploration of American race relations through Baldwin’s personal relationships with three martyrs of the civil rights movement: Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Medgar Evers. Baldwin’s reminisces of his time with these three men, offering an intimate perspective of the death of these larger than life figures and the subsequent pain and grief felt by all of Black America, as well as an Academic’s understanding of their place in history.

The voice of Baldwin is a constant, represented through Samuel L. Jackson’s reading of Baldwin’s work, along with interviews, speeches and archival footage from Baldwin’s outspoken media appearances. He offers an unflinching look into the heart of racism in America, unafraid to broach questions of race, class and sexuality in an era when such issues were seen as taboo. Peck reinforces Baldwin’s writing with stock footage of protests, riots, marches and brutal violence both from the time of writing in the 60s and 70s and from today, drawing upon the events in Ferguson, amongst others, to highlight the struggle for civil liberties that is ongoing.

An emotional tribute to those who lost their lives fighting for equality as well as an intelligent examination of the complicated relationship between White and Black America. It is sad, yet hardly surprising, that Baldwin’s words are as fitting today as they were half a century ago. The same fight for a new generation.

MIFF 2017 
Various locations
Till Sunday, 20 August 2017
miff.com.au