Written by Madi Welborn. Photo by Madi Welborn.
Viewers laughed, cried and learned a lot at the screening and Q&A of Elvis Mitchell’s “Is That Black Enough For You?!?” The film, available to stream on Netflix starting Nov. 11, took a deep dive into the cultural shifts of black presence in the American film industry from 1968 to 1978.
Written, narrated and directed by Mitchell himself, the film features clips and sequences from a large variety of films alongside occasional commentary from Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg and more.
During the Q&A, Mitchell shared insights with the audience on how an experience at Sundance 1999, a lack of credit to black writers, and the career of Harry Belafonte inspired him to create the documentary. He went on to critique the way “black” films are categorized in the industry stating, “You make a black western, or a black romantic comedy, or a black horror film, it’s still a black movie. Black is a genre, and these movies don’t get any other kind of purchase outside of being black films.”
To wrap things up, Mitchell revealed that his original attempt at “Is that Black Enough for You?!?” was a book. After being turned down by publishers, Steve McQueen advised Mitchell that it wasn’t a book story, it’s a documentary, and that form allowed viewers to experience each film as if they moved through 1968 to 1978 on their own.
