Directed by John Akomfrah • 1996 • United Kingdom

John Akomfrah, cofounder of the influential Black Audio Film Collective, crafted this experimental blend of sci-fi parable and essay film, which also serves as an essential primer on the aesthetics and dynamics of contemporary Afrofuturism. Inter...

Directed by Josell Ramos • 2003 • United States
Starring Larry Levan, David Mancuso, Frankie Knuckles

The origins of New York City’s legendary underground dance-club culture are explored in this kinetic cult documentary—a vivid chronicle of a scene that became an oasis for the city’s queer and B...

Directed by Jeff Mills • 2004 • United States

Witness the artist at work as legendary Detroit techno pioneer Jeff Mills creates a live DJ mix with astonishing, hypnotic dexterity.

Directed by Leilah Weinraub • 2018 • United States

Charting the eight-year run of Shakedown, a peripatetic black lesbian strip club in Los Angeles, director Leilah Weinraub attempts “to portray the before and after of a utopic moment.” Weinraub presents a world unto itself, shaped by the desires...

Directed by Phil Collins • 2020 • Germany, United States

Art and activism collide in this empowering documentary, which examines the injustices of America’s prison-industrial complex and the power of house music as a catalyst for human connection, transformation, and liberation. A collaboration ...

Directed by Cauleen Smith • 2013 • United States

Made in 2013, this short by Cauleen Smith is composed entirely of 16 mm and Super 8 found footage and is structured like a blues song, with a live-improvised electro-organic soundtrack created by Chicago-based band the Eternals.

Directed by Anaïs Duplan • 2020 • United States

A poem by Anaïs Duplan unfolds forwards and backwards in a trancey, beat-driven audiovisual remix.

Directed by Tarona • 2020 • Netherlands

A hypnotic dance piece considers questions of race, performance, power, and the gaze.

Directed by S*an D. Henry-Smith • 2021 • United States
Starring Ryan Clarke, Justin Allen, Slant Rhyme

S*an D. Henry-Smith narrates a series of portraits recorded during a day out in New York City, capturing, in the artist’s words, “quiet encounters in the polyphonic city.”

Directed by LYZZA and Enantios Dromos • 2022 • Brazil

Electro-pop avant-gardist LYZZA slips into a surreal neon underground in this visual accompaniment to her mixtape of the same name.

Directed by Christelle Oyiri • 2022 • France

Reflecting on fate, destiny, and the untimely deaths of rappers Tupac Shakur, PnB Rock, Pop Smoke, Takeoff, and XXXTentacion, director Christelle Oyiri fashions a visual memento mori that asks: how did rap become a mortuary factory for tragic heroes?

Directed by Valentin Noujaïm • 2023 • France
Starring Azedine Benabdelmoumene, Benjamin Bertrand, Julien Mézence

In 1979, the Pacific Club was opened in a basement in La Défense, the business district of Paris. It was the first nightclub for Arabs from the suburbs—a parallel world of dance, swea...

Directed by Kiernan Francis • 2023 • United States
Starring Emmanuel Alejandro Molina, Cory Wilson, Fashion LaBeija

A queer Black DJ finds a haven in New York’s underground club scene—until an old friend reenters his life and jeopardizes everything.