Movie About a Blackgirl Being Young Again

11 Modern Coming of Age Movies That Centre Black Girls

Photograph Credit: Okayplayer

The coming of historic period story is one rich with nostalgia and longing for simpler times. Here are eleven coming of historic period movies that are centered around Black girls.

Growing up, getting older, maturing — no matter how yous label it, the passage of time is inevitable. Aging is a universal ritual everyone experiences, which is probably why the coming of historic period genre in film remains poignant for audiences of every generation. Coming of historic period stories act as snapshots that capture cultural nuances, themes, and specificities of generations. These films can as well be symbolic in that they highlight a deeply personal and emotional — yet fleeting — moment in life where identity and self-hood are molded and defined.

Similar most other areas of the film and goggle box industry, the coming of age genre lacks the variety and range of diverse voices that reflect the realities of the globe. Every fourth dimension a splashy, heavily marketed coming of historic period story like Booksmart or Lady Bird comes on the scene, the chatter about the lack of similar stories nearly Black girls amplifies.

Hollywood seems to have little to no involvement in funding the production for movies about Black women'due south transitional flow into adulthood. That doesn't mean these stories don't exist, it's merely a thing of lack of access and exposure. If at that place isn't a wide or limited theatrical release — and studios and production companies don't provide acceptable marketing budgets — it's difficult for audiences to know a pic is even coming out let alone where they tin view it.

(The rare exception to all of this is the French movie Cuties, the feature-length debut from Maïmouna Doucouré which has gotten a lot of attention about the way Netflix marketed it. The film is now currently engulfed in a correct-wing led campaign considering of its sexualized portrayal of the young girls.)

To help, nosotros have rounded upwards a listing of 11 coming of age films centered around Black girls that tin can be streamed online today. What'southward exciting about this list of films is that there is such a range of voices, subject matter, and character journeys that at that place's a little flake of something for everyone. The coming of historic period story is 1 rich with nostalgia and longing for simpler times. Having Black women at the middle of such stories adds layers of perspectives in multiple ways. From religion and sexuality to grief and regret, these films expose the emotional range of women filmmakers and the Blackness women they choose to tell stories about.

Pariah (2011)

Manager: Dee Rees

Scout on: Amazon Prime

Dee Rees' Pariah is the feature expansion of her short picture of the aforementioned proper name. It follows Alike (Adepero Oduye) a high-schoolhouse senior learning to nurture her identity equally a lesbian while keeping her true self a secret from her family. Akin'due south mother Audrey (Kim Wayans) is suspicious of her daughter'south merely friendship with high school driblet-out Laura (Pernell Walker). In an effort to quell Laura's influence she forces Alike to befriend a young daughter from church building named Bina (Aasha Davis).

At commencement Alike and Bina don't go along, simply as they get to know each other they realize they have more in mutual than they previously believed. Feelings blossom between the two, and afterwards attending a stone band functioning they have an intimate night together. Information technology's Alike'south first fourth dimension being physical with anyone and thinks she has finally establish someone who loves and accepts her. Only Akin is devastated when Bina makes information technology clear that their interaction was just ane of experimentation. The pressures from dear lost and her parents' dysfunctional marriage causes Alike to intermission, merely she discovers that her cleaved past but opened up possibilities for a fulfilled future.

Jinn (2018)

Managing director: Nijla Mumin

Picket on: Amazon Prime, iTunes

Summertime (Zoe Renee) is the average daughter next door in her final year of high school. And like any other senior, she is busy waiting to hear about her acceptance into higher, hanging out with friends, eating pizza, and choreographing a trip the light fantastic for the end-of-year talent show. But her life is upended when her female parent Jade (Simone Missick) converts to Islam and impels Summer to do the same. Equally Summer learns more about the organized religion, she begins to encompass her new identity every bit a Muslim and falls in beloved with a beau classmate Tahir (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) who further introduces her to the lessons and principles of Islam. But even as Summer develops a deeper agreement, she struggles to align her choices of self-expression equally a dancer and woman embracing her sexuality with her new identity as a woman of the Muslim religion. Her budding relationship with Tahir too challenges them both every bit they try to grapple with balancing their physical desires for each other while staying true to the core principles taught to them by their parents.

After a revealing picture of Summertime goes viral, and she is publicly shamed by those meant to nurture and protect her, Summer spirals into a cloud of self-uncertainty as she questions her purpose and dueling identities. The film's theme — that life is about growth and new inventions — influences every character's decision-making in this thought-provoking examination of what it means to embrace new beginnings and evolve with new teachings while also staying true to one'southward individuality and personal inclinations.

Rafiki (2018)

Director: Wanuri Kahiu

Watch on: Amazon Prime number, Kanopy

Rafiki is a colorful film set in Kenya nigh 2 daughters of rival politicians who autumn in beloved. In the midst of dealing with her parents' separation, Kena (Samantha Mugatsia) waits for her school grades to encounter if she volition exist eligible to study nursing. But when she and Ziki (Sheila Munyiva) hang out for the offset time, Ziki encourages her to be a physician instead. Ziki isn't quite sure what her lifelong aspirations are, but the ane thing she is certain about is that she doesn't want to stay domicile after she completes schoolhouse. She would much rather travel the world than become a practiced wife.

They both get quick friends and encourage each other to pursue their dreams. Every bit they spend more than time together, they begin to neglect spending fourth dimension with friends and family, which Mama Atim (Muthoni Gathecha) notices. Suspicions most the nature of their relationship grow throughout their community, particularly considering their fathers' political campaigns are heating up. Their dearest for each other soon becomes too much to hide, and when Mama Atim and her nosy daughter out them to their intolerant community, both Kena and Ziki have to decide whether they want to be happy together or safe apart.

Solace (2018)

Director: Tchaiko Omawale

Watch on: Commencement, Hulu

Solace is a moving picture about finding beloved and self-credence in the shadows of loss, death, and addiction. The principal character Sole (Promise Olaide Wilson) is a 17-yr-old artist who plans to join her professor on a trip to Sierra Leone. But when her father dies after a year of being ill, she is uprooted from her home in New York City and sent to live with her estranged grandmother Irene in Los Angeles. Every bit she tries to acclimate herself to her new environment, and Irene's overbearing religious teachings, Sole's struggle with an eating disorder begins to spiral. In an endeavor to become dorsum to New York, she enlists the assist of her troubled neighbors, Jasmine and Guedado, to create a piece of protestation art equally her application. The unlikely group struggles to find a unified vision for the projection, as all of them bring different talents and levels of passion to the table. But later on a night of indulging in mushroom tea, the trio bond in a way that Sole has never washed with anyone before.

Jezebel (2019)

Manager: Numa Perrier

Watch on: Netflix

Loosely based on the life of writer and managing director Numa Perrier, Jezebel is a film that examines the journey of a young Blackness woman as she embraces her womanhood and sexuality. When her mother passes, Tiffany (Tiffany Tenille) is forced to move into her aunt Sabrina'southward (Perrier) overcrowded apartment with her brother and younger sister. It's a rough time financially for anybody living there, and when Sabrina'southward boyfriend complains that Tiffany isn't contributing her fair share to the household, Sabrina hooks Tiffany upward with a cam girl gig. Tiffany, known to the guys who utilise the site equally Jezebel, becomes a fast favorite. She develops a relationship with 1 of her regulars, Bob, who becomes a support system for her emotionally and financially later on she confides in him nearly her mother'due south passing in an arresting scene.

Things begin to wait up for Tiffany every bit she excels at work, just jealousy from co-workers and an incident where Tiffany is chosen a racial slur puts her career and security in jeopardy. Tiffany's journey from a naïve girl unsure of herself after family trauma to an empowered and highly skilled cam girl is a pleasure to witness. Perrier's directorial fashion practically drips sensuality from the screen and her intimate knowledge of the discipline matter makes this story all the more than exhilarant.

Fast Colour (2019)

Director: Julia Hart

Watch on: Amazon Prime, Hulu

Fast Colour is a film about three generations of Black women with supernatural abilities. Bonnie (Lorraine Toussaint) , her daughter Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and her granddaughter Lila (Saniyya Sidney) come from a long lineage of women with these abilities, and they have remained hidden and isolated from the world to protect themselves. Ruth is slightly different from the other women in her family. As a girl, whenever she used her abilities strange things would happen, and when she started having seizures they caused mass devastation in the form of earthquakes. As a teenager, she leaves home and struggles with substance abuse, but returns to reconnect with her female parent and girl.

The film starts as a slow build, with Ruth running away from government agents trying to capture her to conduct studies on her. Just the film'south beauty comes from the intimate moments between the 3 generations of women once Ruth returns home to piece of work on mastering her power. Toussaint's presence on screen is compelling and her character Bonnie is a nurturing matriarch committed to protecting her family unit and their legacy. Ruth and Lila reacquaintance with one another after years of estrangement is sweet, particularly a tender moment where they bail over old music records of 10-Ray Specs, Lauryn Hill, and Nina Simone. Ultimately, this is a story of maternity, stepping into one'due south ability, and taking command of your life.

Atlantics (2019)

Director: Mati Diop

Spotter on: Netflix

Mati Diop's feature-length directorial debut Atlantics (Atlantique) isn't the traditional coming of age story. It is probably better divers as a supernatural-mystery, romance drama. However, its focus on a young woman named Ada (Mame Bineta Sane) and her tragic romance earns it a spot on this list. The moving picture takes place in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal. Ada is engaged to Omar (Babacar Sylla) and her union would bring happiness and contentment to many of her peers because it would be an advantageous union during a time of financial hardship and low employment security in her community. None of this matters to Ada because her true love is Souleiman (Ibrahima Traoré), a structure worker at the site of a futuristic tower endemic by a super-wealthy programmer.

Afterward iv months of piece of work with no wages, Soulieman and his co-workers decide to immigrate to Espana by sea for a amend opportunity. Ada is riddled with anxiety every bit she awaits to hear of Souleiman's safe inflow to Spain and prepares for her nuptials. The dark of her nuptials, Ada and Omar's nuptials bed randomly catches fire and Ada becomes a primary doubtable until a mysterious illness spreading throughout the neighborhood reveals a spiritual reckoning no one could anticipate. Diop's beautifully crafted moving picture language and social commentary brand this film a must-see, but it'due south Ada's decision to assert her independence and realization of the woman she is and destined to become that makes this moving-picture show memorable.

Premature (2020)

Manager: Rashaad Ernesto Green

Watch on: Hulu

This story virtually young honey is as hot and sticky as summer nights in Harlem — the urban center that serves every bit Premature's properties. On a regular night out with friends, Ayanna (Zora Howard), a 17-year-quondam poet 1 month away from going off to higher, meets Isaiah (Joshua Boone), a young music producer who is new to New York Urban center. They meet one evening at a basketball game court and immediately hit information technology off. A vigorous summer romance ensues, one that includes long walks effectually New York, family BBQs at the park, and a late-night game of spades that leads to injure feelings and misunderstandings most Isaiah's ex-girlfriend.

From its spritely debates on black civilisation and soft, glossy color palette, to its jazz heavy soundtrack and intimate portrayals of Harlem neighborhoods, the film screams underrated honey story for the ages. The claim has been made time and again, but this film is arguably the Love Jones for the millennial generation. Except, instead of the frustratingly avoidable miscommunications that separated Nina and Darius, a trip to the dispensary and a heart-wrenching scene with Ayanna in a bathtub cause this couple to drift autonomously. Can the couple reconcile their issues? The ending leaves the audience guessing, merely serves as a bittersweet exploration of what happens when young dear is burdened with developed emotions and situations.

Selah and The Spades (2020)

Director: Tayarisha Poe

Watch on: Amazon Prime

Selah and The Spades invites viewers into the illicit and mysterious activities of a private school in Pennsylvania. This arena is not typically used as a playground for Black youth in picture, only this ane follows Selah, played past Lovie Simone, a blackness daughter running an cloak-and-dagger drug operation. She is portrayed through a lens of youthful rebellion and mischief, characteristics most unremarkably explored with white characters. Selah is completely uninterested in the regular events of high school similar prom and dating and instead is laser-focused on ensuring the legacy of her faction. In order to save the longevity of The Spades, Selah takes underclassman Paloma under her wing and teaches her everything she knows. When events take a plow for the worse afterwards a colorful, acid-trip-esque party scene that could easily exist mistaken for a scene from Euphoria, Selah'due south insecurities begin to get the best of her. She begins to grapple with her own vulnerability, credible in a scene of her practicing her smile in a vanity. The pressures of academic perfection from her female parent spills over into her performance when things begin to get sloppy, and her ain disharmonize with power bubbles to the surface when her right-mitt human being Max makes a dire mistake. The same control her mother exerts over her she uses inside her faction as a fashion to regain control over her life simply is devastated when everything she has worked towards is in danger of falling apart.

Miss Juneteenth (2020)

Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples

Watch on: Amazon Prime

Necole Beharie is an absolute marvel in this story of pageantry and southern tradition in the small Texan metropolis of Forth Worth. Beharie plays Turquoise Jones, a erstwhile crowned Miss Juneteenth who didn't quite live up to the prestige the title affords its holders. Winners typically accept advantage of the full tuition prize awarded them to nourish any Historically Black college and academy of their choosing and continue to become high-condition members of their community. Merely throughout the entirety of the film, Turquoise is reminded of her failure to "make something" of herself as she scrapes past earning low wages and tips from odd jobs as a waitress and a mortuary cosmetologist.

None of her hard work is in vain though, every bit she skips on paying the light bill to save and pay for her daughter Kai (Alexis Chikaeze) to participate in the very same pageant. Kai has no involvement in the pomp and circumstance of becoming Miss Juneteenth, and would prefer to spend her time perfecting her trip the light fantastic skills so she tin bring together her school's drill squad. It'due south an inconvenient truth Turquoise chooses to ignore throughout the picture, as her efforts evidence to be more of her trying to find a new purpose for her own life instead of encouraging the best life path for Kai. The motion picture serves equally an intriguing business relationship of what it means for women to constitute identity gratuitous of others' expectations.

Cuties (2020)

Managing director: Maïmouna Doucouré

Watch on: Netflix

Cuties is a French moving-picture show directed past Maïmouna Doucouré that taps into the preadolescent desire of immature girls to fit in, be accepted, and brand friends. The motion-picture show follows Amy (Fathia Youssouf) during a menstruation of transition in her life: her family has just moved to French republic, she's starting at a new schoolhouse and her mother is preparing to welcome a second wife into their home. As a firstborn daughter, she is responsible for the intendance of her younger siblings, and is the only kid privvy to her mother's struggle with accepting the fact that her married man is bringing home a new wife from Senegal.

Desperate for an outlet, Amy becomes fascinated with a group of girls at schoolhouse. They seem to be everything she is non — free, stylish, absurd, and dancers. Led by Amy's neighbour Angelica (Medina El Aidi), the girls are prepping to compete in a local dance competition. It's not easy for Amy to join the group of rambunctious girls, but she eventually does and chop-chop becomes entangled in their pre-teen antics of trying to appear older than they are. The group is constantly reminded they are besides young for their stunts, similar when a group of older boys phone call them "piffling girls" after they try to prevarication about their historic period, or when Coumba (Esther Gohourou) mistakes a pink condom for a balloon. They believe the only style to stand up out and have a gamble to win the competition is if they emulate the sexy and attracting nature of the women they watch in dance videos online. When a spot opens up on the team, Amy is eager to testify she can exist the perfect replacement equally she transforms into a version of herself she believes encapsulates femininity. The film is the perfect depiction of modern girlhood in the age of social media. Information technology deftly critiques the unmitigated exposure to hypersexualized and sometimes misleading portrayals of what constitutes womanhood that pressures young girls to grow up too fast in gild to receive external value and acceptance.

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Morgan Grain is an LA-based writer and producer with southern Atlanta roots whose piece of work focuses on black women's contribution to amusement, media, visual arts and civilisation.

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Source: https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/coming-of-age-movies-black-girls-women.html