Friday Five

Black Panther Party members in 1969. Photo: David Fenton/Getty Images

The wait for the Covid-19 vaccine is getting shorter, the days are finally getting longer, and we’re starting to see blue skies again. On the other hand, we’re still sheltering in place, stuck at home, and looking for new content to stream. If you’re in the mood for something educational, local, inspiring, and/or radical, a number of films based in the Bay Area can help us understand our radical roots.

With topics including LGBTQIA rights, racial justice, gentrification, and classism, these five films showcase some incredible stories that are close to home.

1. ‘Milk’ (2008)

Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) cheering from the back of a convertible during a parade. — Photo: Axon Films, Groundswell Productions, Jinks/Cohen Company

Set in San Francisco in the 1970s, this film was released one week before California voted yes on Proposition 8, which set the stage for a multiyear battle toward marriage equality. California’s confusing politics is artfully conveyed in this biopic set in the 1970s of trailblazing civil rights leader and former San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk. Sean Penn stars as the titular Harvey Milk, with James Franco and Diego Luna co-starring; Salinas-raised Dustin Lance Black wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay.

The majority of the film takes place in the Castro District, an epicenter of activism for the LGBTQAI community. Several of the real-life characters from the film live in San Francisco to this day, including Cleve Jones (played by Emile Hirsch) and Anne Kronenberg (Alison Pill).

Available on Amazon Prime.

2. ‘Fruitvale Station’ (2013)

2 BART officers standing over 4 seated men on the Fruitvale BART platform. — Photo: Significant Productions

Ryan Coogler’s stunning feature debut tackles the story of Oscar Grant, a Black man killed on New Year’s Day, 2009, by two white BART police officers. Fruitvale Station was released the same year that the Black Lives Matter organization was founded, setting off the past decade’s revitalized anti-policing efforts against the criminal justice system’s ruthless targeting of Black and Brown people. This story was adapted into a Hollywood film told from Grant’s perspective. Coogler attended St. Mary’s High School in Berkeley and is originally from Richmond, so it’s fitting that his first feature-length film is one so personal to the East Bay.

A tragic tale and an important movie for our shared history, Fruitvale Station won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival when it premiered in 2013, exactly four years after Grant’s death.

Available on Netflix.

3. ‘Sorry to Bother You’ (2018)

Characters from the movie posing with tricked-out bikes on a hilly Oakland street. — Photo: Significant Productions

From the mind of local Oakland communist activist Boots Riley comes the bizarre anti-capitalist epic that is Sorry to Bother You, an ode to the systemic issues that plague American society. From gentrification to corporate greed to racism to the hypocrisy of the art world, Riley’s movie is a kaleidoscope of satire and razor-sharp commentary on what our hypercapitalist society has evolved into.

Set and mostly filmed in Oakland, the film ridicules the VC-fueled, nouveau riche-era the Bay has seen over the past 10 years, framed from the perspective of a young Black man trying to financially support himself.

Without giving away too much of a spoiler, the film shifts midway through from magical realism to all-out science fiction when our character’s journey from humble telemarketer to mogul reveals the horrific product he’s contributing to.

The movie stars LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Armie Hammer, and Danny Glover.

Available on Hulu.

4. ‘Black Panthers’ (1968)

Black women sitting on the floor of a van with its doors open, clapping as children dance in front of them. — Photo: Cine-Tamaris

Filmed by revolutionary feminist director Agnès Varda in 1968, the 28-minute documentary-style Black Panthers showcases the Black Panther Party in Oakland. While it is not a conventional Hollywood film, it’s a captivating watch and a fly-on-the-wall look at what was happening within the Black Panther Party at the tumultuous time of co-founder Huey Newton’s arrest and conviction.

The movement’s female leaders are often omitted from history, but Varda interviews Kathleen Cleaver, who discusses the natural hair movement and details her experiences within the group. It’s one of the few concise records of this time in Oakland and will stoke your motivation to challenge the injustices in our modern world. It’s an insightful document of the stories of the previous generation in the Bay Area.

Available on Amazon Prime.

5. ‘Blindspotting’ (2018)

Two people speaking outside of a liquor store/grocery market at night. — Photo: Summit Entertainment, Codeblack Films, Snoot Entertainment

Blindspotting is a beautifully humanist tapestry of life in the East Bay, written and acted by Oakland natives and childhood friends Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs. The film tells the story of low-key Collin and his boisterous friend Miles over the course of a few days as they work for a local moving company. Collin has three days left of felony probation and is trying to set himself up for success, but feelings of guilt and anger over what happened to him — compounded by Miles’ reckless behavior — threaten to derail him.

Set in Uptown, East, Downtown, and other Oakland locales, Blindspotting grapples with gentrification, coming of age, and racial identity throughout the rapidly changing city. The film provides a nuanced narrative featuring a diverse array of characters — even a villainous cop — to show the impact and emotion of the choices we make as a society and their impact on young Black and Brown people.

Available to rent on YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Google Play.