The Politics of Race in American Film

What can film teach us about the evolution of racial politics and depictions of race in the United States? In this series, we’ll be exploring key questions around the impact, influence, and significance of film as a form of social analysis, engagement, and critique. We will examine how racial politics in America are represented by its films, Hollywood cinema’s role in how race is framed, and how this framing has contributed to broad, intersectional representations of racial inequality. We will examine recent films – including Moonlight, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Black Panther, The Florida Project, Paterson, and more – intending to address, depict, and complicate our understanding of race in the United States. The Politics of Race in American Film is a limited podcast series from the LSE US Centre, hosted by Dr. Clive James Nwonka.