In support of the launch of No Direct Flight—a new series exploring the aesthetics of the African diaspora—director Justice Nnanna shares his list of documentaries that show the state of the world through the eyes of those who—because of prejudice, racism, or poverty—have not been allowed to shape it. These documentaries reveal that the strength of the human spirit is a fighting force for positive change.

Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2020)

An inspired and intimate portrait of a place and its people, Hale County This Morning, This Evening looks at the lives of Daniel Collins and Quincy Bryant, two young African American men from rural Alabama, over the course of five years. This documentary creates a humanistic view of the Black community in Hale County while forming an impression of the historic South. It allows the audience to encounter the beauty of life, undertsnad the social construct of race, while also being a testimony to dreaming.

Statues Also Die (1953)

Les Statues Meurent Aussi (Statues Also Die) is a 1953 documentary directed by Alain Resnais, Chris Marker, and Ghislain Cloquet, unravelling the effects of colonialism on historical African Art. The documentary criticises colonialism through Western institutions exhibiting a series of sculptures, masks and other traditional art from Sub-Saharan Africa. The film focuses on the emotional aspects of African art and discusses perceptions within the contemporary European perspective. Due to its criticism of colonialism, the second part of the documentary was banned in France until the 1960s. 

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)

Attempting to capture and investigate reality, unhindered by the presence of the cameras, film director and documentarian William Greaves has created perhaps the most memorable metatextual storytelling using the concept of creating a documentary inside a documentary, inside another documentary. Filmmaker William Greaves auditioned acting students for a fictional drama, while simultaneously shooting a behind-the-scenes drama taking place. 

I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

I Am Not Your Negro was directed by Raoul Peck and based on James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript "Remember This House," which tells the story of race, the history of racism in modern America, and includes Baldwin's thoughts on civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin luther King Jr, as well as his personal views on the evolution of America.

Behemoth (2015)

Political documentarian Zhao Liang explores the effects of coal mining in China and Inner Mongolia, looking at the environment, sociological, and public health issues that it creates. Beginning with a mining explosion in Mongolia and ending in a ghost city west of Beijing, this breathtaking film unveils the devastation behind an economic miracle. Behemoth has been commended for its surreal cinematography and captivating imagery.

Your Turn (2019)

Directed by Eliza Capai, Espera tua re(volta) (Your Turn) profiles the Brazilian student protests demanding better public education and the end of austerity measures. These young people reflect on what happened at past revolts and address the present situation. In the shadow of a newly-elected extreme right-wing President, Espero tua (re)volta gives voice to the movement’s multiple perspectives and asks the question: who writes history and how should it be recorded?

Black Power in America: Myth... or Reality (1986)

Using documentary footage and in-depth interviews, Black Power in America: Myth...or Reality? (1986) examines how the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s changed the Black community and the rest of American society. The film profiles a group of successful African Americans working in professions not traditionally associated with Black leadership, and takes a candid look at some of the problems facing the African American community. Watch the trailer here.