A look at the life of Cecil Gaines, who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.

Harriet

2019

English

6.7

♡ 125

74%

Kasi Lemmons Director

Jennifer Nettles as Eliza Brodess

Cynthia Erivo as Harriet / Minty

Janelle Monáe as Marie Buchanon

Deborah Ayorinde as Rachel Ross

The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

Emancipation

2022

English

6.3

♡ 114

45%

united states of america (usa)

Antoine Fuqua Director

Ronnie Gene Blevins as Harrington

Jordyn McIntosh as Laurette

Will Smith as Peter

Thomas Johnston as RR Confederate Soldier

Inspired by the gripping true story of a man who would do anything for his family—and for freedom. When Peter, an enslaved man, risks his life to escape and return to his family, he embarks on a perilous journey of love and endurance.

Hawk the Slayer

1980

English

5.3

♡ 7

40%

Terry Marcel Director

Shane Briant as Drogo

Roy Kinnear as Innkeeper

Andy Bradford as Voltan Man

Patricia Quinn as Woman, Sorceress

Hawk the Slayer, after seeing both his father and bride die at the hands of his malevolent brother, Voltan, sets out for revenge and the chance to live up to his title. Tooling himself up with the "mind-sword" and recruiting a motley band of warriors — a giant, a dwarf, a one-armed man with a machine-crossbow, and an elf with the fastest bow in the land — Hawk leads the battle against Voltan to free the land from the forces of evil and avenge his loved ones.

Conan the Barbarian

2011

English

5.2

♡ 108

25%

Marcus Nispel Director

Nathan Jones as Akhun

Jason Momoa as Conan

Ron Perlman as Corin

Morgan Freeman as Narrator

A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.

Manderlay

2005

Danish

7.2

♡ 10

50%

Lars von Trier Director

Bryce Dallas Howard as Grace Margaret Mulligan

Willem Dafoe as Grace's Father

John Hurt as Narrator

Jeremy Davies as Niels

In 1933, a young woman and her father discover an Alabama plantation whose inhabitants live as if slavery had never been abolished. Feeling a sense of duty to those behind the heavy gates, she stays to liberate the people and see them through their first harvest. With four of her father's colleagues and a lawyer, she faces the daunting task of resurrecting the place known as Manderlay.

Amazing Grace

2006

English

7.4

♡ 39

68%

85%

18th century

Action

based on a true story

Michael Apted Director

Stephen Campbell Moore as James Stephen

Andrew Neil as MP 2

Rufus Sewell as Thomas Clarkson

Benedict Cumberbatch as William Pitt

The true story of William Wilberforce and his courageous quest to end the British slave trade. Along the way, Wilberforce meets intense opposition, but his minister urges him to see the cause through.

13th

2016

English

8.2

♡ 10

97%

Ava DuVernay Director

Bill Clinton as Self

Nancy Reagan as Self

Tom Brokaw as Self Ed Koch

Ed Koch as Self

An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.

Amistad

1997

English

7.3

♡ 56

78%

Steven Spielberg Director

Arliss Howard as John C. Calhoun

Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams

Matthew McConaughey as Roger Sherman Baldwin

Morgan Freeman as Theodore Joadson

In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams also becomes an ally.

Little Big Soldier

2010

Chinese

6.8

♡ 24

79%

Sheng Ding Director

Rongguang Yu as Captain Yu Ken Lo

Ken Lo as Guard Yong

Leehom Wang as the General

Jackie Chan as The Soldier

The story of a farmer forced into conscription, who has been looking to get out of the army ever since. His great chance arrives when he stumbles upon a wounded general from an enemy state, and he kidnaps him, intending to claim credit for the capture, which includes five acres of land, and most importantly, honorable discharge from the army.

No Chains No Masters

2024

French

6.3

♡ 5

Simon Moutaïrou Director

Vassili Schneider as Baptiste

Benoît Magimel as Eugène Larcenet

Félix Lefebvre as Honoré Larcenet

Camille Cottin as Madame La Victoire

1759, Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean. The island is controlled by French settlers and the deported slave population live in fear while toiling in the sugar cane plantations. Unlike her disillusioned father Massamba, 16-year-old Mati refuses to keep her head down and accept her fate.

Death of a Nation

2018

English

4.1

♡ 20

Dinesh D'Souza Director

Marek Vasut as

Don Taylor as Abraham Lincoln

Karel Dobrý as Gestapo Chief

Dinesh D'Souza as Himself

Parallels are drawn between Abraham Lincoln's presidency and the presidency of Donald Trump. Not since 1860 have the Democrats so fanatically refused to accept the result of a free election. That year, their target was Lincoln. They smeared him. They went to war to defeat him. In the end, they assassinated him.

Mandingo

1975

English

6.5

♡ 8

25%

interracial relationship

Romance

slave owner

slavery

Richard Fleischer Director

Roy Poole as Doc Redfield

Perry King as Hammond Maxwell

Irene Tedrow as Mrs. Redfield

Duane Allen as Topaz

Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.

Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade

1978

Italian

4.4

♡ 28

15%

Joe D'Amato Director

Maria Letizia Serafino as

Anna Toffoli as

Laura Gemser as Emanuelle

Tom Felleghy as The Senator

Emanuelle returns to Kenya, trying to get an interview with a foreign gangster who's taken refuge in the African countryside while still operating an international criminal network.

Goodbye Uncle Tom

1971

Italian

6.5

♡ 7

45%

Gualtiero Jacopetti Director

Shelley Spurlock as Girl

Susan Hampshire as Self

Gualtiero Jacopetti as Self

Dick Gregory as Self

Two documentary filmmakers go back in time to the pre-Civil War American South, to film the slave trade.

This Magnificent Cake!

2018

French

7.1

♡ 7

100%

Emma De Swaef Director

Walter Canipel as Extra voice

Aziz Azam as Extra voice

Juan Maldonado as Extra voice

Sébastien Brodzic as Extra voice

In 1885, Africa is a succulent cake destined to be wildly divided and everyone wants a piece. A disturbed European king, a Pygmy working in a luxury hotel, a successful but lonely businessman, an enslaved porter, a young army deserter, a ghostly clarinetist. Some benefit from colonialism and greed. Others suffer racism and violence.

The Eagle

2011

English

6.2

♡ 57

39%

Kevin Macdonald Director

Jamie Bell as Esca

Channing Tatum as Marcus

Ned Dennehy as Seal Chief / The Horned One

Brian Gleeson as Traveller 1

In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca, Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia - to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth.

Spartacus

1960

English

7.9

♡ 111

93%

Stanley Kubrick Director

Robert J. Wilke as Guard Captain

Carleton Young as Herald

Michael Masters as Small Role

Chuck Hayward as Soldier

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.

The Salt of the Earth

2014

French

8.4

♡ 16

94%

photographic evidence

slavery

Wim Wenders Director

Leny Wanick Mattos as Sebastião's Sister-in-Law

João Pessoa Mattos as Self

Jacques Barthélémy as Self

Wim Wenders as Self - Narrator

During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.