The Legendary Sidney Poitier Has Passed Away at 94

The iconic Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier has passed away at 94, Bahamian news outlets reported Friday. His death was confirmed by Eugene Torchon-Newry, the acting director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Bahamas. No other details have been provided yet.

Poitier broke a slew of barriers in Hollywood during his long, legendary career, including, in 1964, becoming the first Black man to win the Oscar for best actor. Poitier’s career was filled with many such firsts and his impact on both Hollywood and the culture at large was seismic.

Film Historians on the Landscape of Cinema During the Civil Rights Era

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Leaders from all over our country are gathering in D.C. to mark the occasion, with a speech at the end of the day's proceedings by President Obama.

As we wrote yesterday, there are powerful documentaries on the civil rights movement available on DVD that, truly, every American should watch. What we started wondering was what narrative films we were being made at the time that might have had an impact,