Have you noticed that there is a severe lack of black films on the big screens over the past few years? While I am not even suggesting that there was ever a time when black films were a dime a dozen, and your Saturday night choices at your local multiplex were overrun with ‘black’ choices on a Saturday night, but there was a moment in time – roughly between the mid nineties to early noughties – when a handful of black movies were granted that much sought after ‘general release’ status. Films such as ‘Waiting to Exhale (1995) ’, ‘Jason’s Lyric (1994)’ and ‘The Best Man (1999)’ were hugely popular with black audiences. On a Saturday night it wasn’t unusual to see lengthy queues outside cinemas that stretched far round the block to see these popular US imports. The screenings were spirited experiences, which somehow created a shared feeling of belonging and community as audience members identified with some of the narratives that were unique to the black experience.
 
But in recent years there has been an obvious shift in trend, whereby only a small handful of films manages to get the green light. Priscilla Igwe the editor of BFM (Black Filmaker) says, “Unfortunately, black films aren’t seen as sustainable market, the black pound is seen as  very weak”
 
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