The BEST episodes directed by John Akomfrah
#1 - The March
PBS Specials - Season 2013 - Episode 29
Called the definitive documentary on the 1963 March on Washington, this commemorative special from PBS marks the 50th anniversary of a landmark moment in the civil rights movement. This film tells the story of how the march for jobs and freedom began, and the stories of all the individuals who played a role in it. Drawing upon rare archive footage, 'The March' shows the background stories leading up to the march, including the political indifference of the John F. Kennedy administration, hostility from J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, and the widespread claims that it would incite racial violence, chaos and disturbance. The film follows the unfolding drama as the march reaches its ultimate triumphs, gaining acceptance from the state, successfully raising funds and in the end, organized and executed peacefully - and creating a landmark moment in the struggle for civil rights and racial equality in the United States. Including interviews with some of the key actors: members of the inner circles of the core organizational groups such as Jack O'Dell, Clarence B. Jones, Julian Bond and Andrew Young; Hollywood supporters and civil rights campaigners including Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll and Sidney Poitier; Performing artists at the March such as Joan Baez and Peter Yarrow; as well as JFK administration official, Harris Wofford; the CBS Broadcaster who reported from the March, Roger Mudd; Clayborne Carson, the founding director of Stanford's Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute and a participant in the March; as well as those who witnessed the march on TV and were influenced by it, such as Oprah Winfrey, and most of all, the remembrances of the ordinary citizens who joined some 250,000 Americans at the capital on that momentous.
Watch Now:Amazon#2 - Urban Soul: The Making of Modern R&B
BBC Documentaries - Season 2004 - Episode 20
Telling the story of one of the defining genres in American contemporary music culture, including interviews with Beyonce Knowles, Mary J Blige, Wyclef Jean and Chaka Khan.
#3 - Martin Luther King and the March on Washington
BBC Documentaries - Season 2013 - Episode 168
The story of the how the march for jobs and freedom began, speaking to the people who organized and participated in it. Using rarely seen archive footage the film reveals the background stories surrounding the build up to the march as well as the fierce opposition it faced from the JFK administration, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and widespread claims that it would incite racial violence, chaos and disturbance. The film follows the unfolding drama as the march reaches its ultimate triumphs, gaining acceptance from the state, successfully raising funds and in the end, organized and executed peacefully - and creating a landmark moment in the struggle for civil rights and racial equality in the United States.