Dil Bole Hadippa. An Indian woman disguises herself as a man & becomes a star cricket player. Waiting to see if this gets distributed outside NYC, because it looks like a lot of fun.

Fame. Waiting to see how many actors of color are in this. I love the TV show.

Good Hair. Documentary by Chris Rock about hairstyles in the black community.

Amelia. Because even though it’s about a white woman (Amelia Earhart, being played by Hilary Swank), Mira Nair is directing, and I would really like to see a woman of color helm a big Hollywood hit, if only for the clout it will give her later.

Precious. The film based on Sapphire’s novel Push. Looks profoundly depressing but a must-see.

Red Cliff. Military costume drama about a war in 3rd-century Han China. I’m a sucker for big historical epics, and this one looks gorgeous.

Before Tomorrow. An Inuit family in the mid-19th century.

Sincerely Yours. An Indonesian woman & a Thai man fall in love in Taiwan.

That’s what I’ve got so far…

One for the files. A Muslim-American tries to get his play about a
Muslim-American family produced. Read the responses he got from producers and weep:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wajahat-ali/the-domestic-crusaders-ma_b_277216.html

Correct me if I am wrong, POC are not “relatable”?!! POC make up 2/3 of the world’s population. It always amazes me how the world’s smallest demographic can brain wash the rest of us. The truth is that white people are the minority in the world but since they control so much of the world’s industries it feels like the opposite.

The bottom line is how can we correct this? What are our solutions? In my opinion, our only option is to create our own production and distribution companies. Tyler Perry’s success is great but his content isn’t always up to par. We need a plethora of voices in film and other mediums and we have to do it ourselves. Or we’ll be waiting around for another 400 years.

I really like the idea of listing what we’re looking forward to, because I’m always looking for more films by & about people of color to put my dollars behind. Here’s my list (I’m white, btw, so it’s not hard to get out of my race):

Mississippi Damned (Tina Mabry). Three kids from a poor, rural black family try to make it out despite abuse, addiction, & violence. Looks intense, but absolutely amazing.

Ghosted (Monika Treut). Romantic thriller about German-Taiwanese culture clash. With lesbians. And reincarnation, maybe. Anyway, I’m there.

Casi Divas. Shallow fluff about 4 women competing for a spot on a Mexican TV show. I am a total sucker for these character ensemble pieces.

Amreeka (Cherien Dabis). A Palestinian single mom moved to join her family in Illinois and then has to deal with repercussions of the US war in Iraq. With humor.

Pomegranates & Myrrh (Najwa Najjar). Romance between 2 Palestinians, a free-spirited dancer whose husband is in prison and a returnee who takes over as her choreographer.

Medicine for Melancholy (Barry Jenkins). 2 black middle-class people on day-long date in San Francisco. Might already have missed it.

And yes, I really do want to see the Frog Princess, even though I think it’s going to be full of cringe-inducing moments.

I’ve seen & recommend: Caramel (5 Lebanese women whose lives are linked by a beauty parlor), I’m Through with White Girls (another of the best romcoms ever), Family (6 black lesbians make a pact to come out together)….

I mean this is the industry that after The Brave One flopped decided it was obviously because audiences didn’t want women main characters. I’m not sure audience support can really work to change this if all it takes is one flop for the studios to go off running scared.