IT’S been 10 years since
Spike Lee, entrepreneur, provocateur and role model for aspiring directors of color, declared in The New York Times that it was an era of unprecedented possibility for African-American filmmakers. At the tail end of the 1990s there was plenty of evidence backing Mr. Lee’s optimism.Beginning in 1991, a year that had impressive debuts from disparate black directors like
John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”),
Carl Franklin (
“One False Move”) and Julie Dash (
“Daughters of the Dust”), it seemed as though each successive year yielded promising starts from African-American talents: Albert and Allen Hughes ( “Menace 2 Society,” 1993), Darnell Martin (“I Like it Like That,” 1994), F. Gary Gray (
“Friday,” 1995), Kasi Lemmons (
“Eve’s Bayou,” 1997) and Malcolm D. Lee (
“The Best Man,” 1999).Varying degrees of critical acclaim and, most important, financial success came in the wake of these films, solidifying Hollywood’s consciousness of a lucrative African-American audience for films while promising a sweeping, solid and diversified presence of African-American talent in cinema for years to come.
