EPISODE
Black Hollywood: They've Gotta Have Us - Season 1
This energizing narrative series from three parts talks about the historical backdrop of the black people at the film making. It investigates story of the greatest defining moments, the triumphs and heartbreaks of black life on the two sides.
16 January 1950, Houston, Texas, USA
8 December 1965, Birmingham, England, UK
7 July 1965, Bronx, New York, USA
21 June 1983, Santa Rosa, California, USA
10 June 1969, USA
15 March 1975, Los Angeles, California, USA
April1971, Chicago, Illinois, USA
1 April 1976, Oxford, England, UK
1954 in Barbados
March 27, 2020
Powerful, sensitive, and fascinating, this docuseries focuses on a serious, important topic, but its talking-head interviews are so lively and fresh that it's a joy to watch instead of ponderous.
March 05, 2020
I'm really glad that this series exists, because ... it tells an important, often unknown history of the movies.
February 06, 2020
In touching on many topics but only substantively granting insights into a few of them, the finished product comes across as unfocused and incomplete.
February 06, 2020
They've Gotta Have Us shows exhilaratingly that a growing number of black filmmakers are moving us in the right direction.
February 05, 2020
As a documentary about black history in movies reminds us, the Oscars provide only one of the more visible and symbolic manifestations of where and how progress needs to be made.
February 28, 2020
This isn't a simple story, but it's a crucial and lively one, made all the more relevant by the current renaissance in black filmmaking.
October 16, 2018
The rush to reach the modern era meant significant, unfortunate omissions - perhaps Paul Robeson proved too complex a character to crowbar into the scattershot narrative - but the narrators were still inspiring, their stories indubitably worth hearing.
February 05, 2020
Black filmmakers have been making these points for decades, and the success of Black art shouldn't be equated to how profitable or relatable it is to white audiences. [It] often fails to tell what feels like an entire story because of this limited focus.
March 27, 2020
This series makes you want to seek out so many great films again - or for the first time.
February 04, 2020
Frederick fashions a collage of Blackness never before seen on either side of the pond.
February 13, 2020
They've Gotta Have Us ultimately succeeds in reiterating the artistry and colossal influence of Black Cinema.
