Her Voice at BFI Southbank: Five must-see films celebrating black women performers

Cinemas are back from May 17 (hurrah!) and while London’s newly reopened venues will offer a whole world of filmic delights — whether it’s the chance to revisit your favourite indie spot, or finally see that Oscar-winner you’ve been saving for the big screen — there’s a particularly fascinating season set for the reopening of BFI Southbank.

Her Voice, which runs through May and into June, will celebrate the best of black women performers on film, from documentaries shining a spotlight on musical icons of years gone by, to dazzling, in-depth biopics, and beyond.

Here, we’ve picked out five must-see highlights.

Billie (2019)

Based on an extraordinary collection of previously unheard interviews, collected by the late journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl in the Sixties and Seventies, this documentary explores both the dark and the light in Billie Holiday’s life and career. We hear from both the vocalist herself, as well as those who knew her, to tell the story of a supremely talented but embattled musical icon. The newly colourised footage of Holiday’s live performances are mesmerising.

6pm, June 2 and 8.40pm, June 15

20 Feet from Stardom (2013)

An Oscar-winning deep dive into the world of backing singers. They’re the people — black women, in many of the most prominent cases — that over the years have elevated some of the world’s most popular records with their voices. Do they get the credit they deserve? Are they content with life in the background? What happens if they want to be the stars themselves? It’s all explored in a film that bursts with passion and energy.

8.45pm, June 4 and 6.20pm, June 10

Dreamgirls (2006)

It’s probably the best known film on our list, but it’s always worth a rewatch. Loosely based on the story of the Supremes and the wider Motown phenomenon, the film has a hefty amount of stardust sprinkled throughout — Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx are among the cast — with some truly magical musical moments, none more so than from Jennifer Hudson, who made her acting debut here.

5.50pm, May 22 and 8.30pm, June 23

What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993)

Based on Tina Turner’s tell-all autobiography, this 1993 biopic gives a riveting and often raw account of the singer’s career, and how it became entwined with her abusive partner, Ike. The 2021 documentary, Tina, gives a broader overview of it all (partly by virtue of being made three decades later) but this film is worth seeking out for the Oscar-nominated performances of Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne as Tina and Ike.

6pm, June 4 and 8.45pm, June 26

Siren of the Tropics (1927)

A landmark release from almost a century ago, this silent film is electrified by the dazzling talent of Josephine Baker, the first black woman to star in a feature film. For those unfamiliar with Baker’s extraordinary life — aside from her career as a dancer, singer and actor, she was also a passionate civil rights activist, and an agent of the French Resistance during World War Two — this makes a fine starting point.

6.10pm, May 19 and June 5, 12.20

Her Voice: Black Women From the Spotlight to the Screen is at BFI Southbank from May 17 – June 30. Tickets on sale now, bfi.org.uk/whatson

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