Black in Period Films

"Lessons in Chemistry" is based on the best-selling novel by  Bonnie Garmus.  "After being fired from her job as a lab tech, chemist Elizabeth Zott uses her new job hosting a 1960s television cooking show titled Supper at Six to educate housewives on scientific topics." ~ Official Synopsis On September 8th we were given this image through a Vanity Fair First Look. It features (left to right) Brie Larson as Elizabeth Zott, Aja Naomi King as Harriet Sloan, Keena Ferguson as Rhoda, and Constance Ejuma as Agnes in Lessons In Chemistry. This image paired with the official trailer tells me that the series is going to be different from the book. Aja's character Harriet Sloan was an unhappily married older white woman in the book. So I am very interested to see how the Harriet character (and the other black characters) are handled in this version of the story.  Lessons in Chemistry premieres October 13 on Apple TV+.

Written and directed by Eugene Ashe, this film is having its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020. Sundance has this to say about the film : The jazz is smooth and the air sultry in the New York summer of 1957. Sylvie helps around her father’s record store as she waits for her fiancé to return from war—until sweet saxophonist Robert walks in looking for a day job to subsidize his residency at the Blue Morocco lounge. This chance meeting kindles a deep passion in each of them unlike anything they’ve felt before. Sylvie’s mother immediately disapproves and reminds Sylvie of her engagement, while Robert’s band books their first big gig overseas. As time passes, the sexual revolution begins, and Motown becomes king, the two fall in and out of each other’s arms, but never out of love. Cast Tessa Thompson as Sylvie Nnamdi Asomugha as Robert Ryan Michelle Bathe as Kate Regé-Jean Page as Chico Aja Naomi King as Mona Lance Reddick as ...

A Birth of a Nation Featurette featuring the women of Birth of a Nation. Aja Naomi King as Cherry  Gabrielle Union as Esther  Aunjanue Ellis as Nacy Esther Scott as Bridget