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The I Index

Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World

Top of the pile

77

/100

I Index Overall Rating

Readers

89/100

Critics

65/100

Scholars

N/A

Author:

Wil Haygood

Publisher:

Knopf

Date:

October 19, 2021

Haygood examines 100 years of Black movies using the struggles and triumphs of the artists, and the films themselves, as a prism to explore Black culture, civil rights, and racism in America.

What The Reviewers Say

Dwight Garner,
The New York Times
... elegant and well-made.
Steve Nathans-Kelly,
New York Journal of Books
Colorization, a well-constructed and deeply engaging chronicle...breaks significant new ground in that takes in the full sweep of on-screen portrayals of Black Americans (sometimes by Black American filmmakers, sometimes not), spanning years beyond other indispensable accounts.
Nell Beram,
Shelf Awareness
The stories that Wil Haygood tells—of pioneers, mavericks, rebels—are as gripping as anything that one might hope to see on the big screen.
Mark Whitaker,
The Washington Post
For anyone who isn’t steeped in film history, Haygood provides a valuable service by recalling the few movies made by White producers and directors in the pre-civil rights era that dealt seriously with race issues.