I know it’s hard these days to figure out what a black film really is: Norbit? The Inside Man? Hustle and Flow? Even the “independent” films that turn up at festivals like the Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles, the American Black Film Festival or Urban World in New York, are all starting to feel like dress rehearsals for Hollywood rather than independent visions of African American history, culture or experience.

Well, here are a few of my favorite things … movies, that is, that capture the struggles and style of our explorations in this world, big and small, from the perspective of people who actually do walk in our shoes.

To Sleep With Anger / Killer of Sheep

To Sleep With Anger, which stars Danny Glover, Mary Alice and Carl Lumly is easy to see. You can pick it up at Netflix or any neighborhood Blockbuster. After a long absence from the indie film circuit, Killer of Sheep will soon be released on DVD. Both share not only the simple genius of their director, Mac Arthur “genius” Fellowship Recipient Charles Burnett, but also the patient, unflinching gaze on black people at their most ordinary and profound. Family, migration, loss, unity, tradition – all spoken quietly, like a secret. Burnett’s real masterpiece, Killer of Sheep, might initially be hard to find. But, really, you should see anything by Charles Burnett you possibly can.