With prior screen appearances in films such as POETIC JUSTICE and with screenwriting credits that included an adaptation of her own "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,"  DOWN IN THE DELTA (1998) marked the first and only feature directorial effort for celebrated poet and activist Maya Angelou. An Alum of AFI’s DWW program, she also...

Released 50 years ago this August, SOUL TO SOUL (1971) documents a 14-hour concert event of the same name that took place in Accra, Ghana, to celebrate the country’s 14th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule. On March 6, 1971, a crowd of over 100,000 Africans gathered in the capital city of Ghana to...

Director of DOWN IN THE DELTA Maya Angelou was an alum of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women – and star Alfre Woodard is a recipient of an Honorary Degree from the AFI Conservatory.  HOW TO WATCH Where to stream DOWN IN THE DELTA DOWN IN THE DELTA - Reelgood LEARN MORE ABOUT AFI MOVIE CLUB AFI has created...

Narrated by AFI Directing Workshop for Women alum Maya Angelou, THE BLACK CANDLE traces the growth of Kwanzaa out of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements in the 1960s to its modern-day incarnation as a Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions around the world.  Watch director M.K. Asante go "Behind the Scene" and talk about filming THE BLACK CANDLE in this exclusive conversation. MOVIE TRIVIA DID YOU KNOW? THE BLACK CANDLE marks the first feature documentary film created about Kwanzaa.  DID...

Co-directors Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack present a lovingly crafted and stunningly comprehensive portrait of the esteemed Dr. Maya Angelou with MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE.  The incredible story is told by Angelou herself, along with a remarkable cast of contemporaries from her careers as actress, writer, poet and activist.  In chronicling Angelou’s…