The Black Candle

For the controversial Emily Murphy book, see Emily Murphy § Drugs and race.

The Black Candle
Directed by	M. K. Asante
Written by	M. K. Asante Maya Angelou (poetry)
Produced by	M. K. Asante Ben Haaz Kenny Gamble Walter Lomax
Starring	Maya Angelou Chuck D Dead Prez Kiri Davis Ursula Rucker Jim Brown Haki Madhubuti
Narrated by	Maya Angelou
Music by	Nnenna Freelon, Derrick Hodge, Robert Glasper, Chris Dave
Release date	November 2008 (2008-11)
Running time	71 minutes
Language	English

The Black Candle is a documentary film about Kwanzaa directed by M. K. Asante and narrated by Maya Angelou. The film premiered on cable television on Starz in November 2012.

Synopsis

The Black Candle uses Kwanzaa as a vehicle to explore and celebrate the African-American experience. Narrated by the poet Maya Angelou and directed by author and filmmaker M. K. Asante, The Black Candle is about the struggle and triumph of African-American family, community, and culture. The documentary traces the holiday's growth out of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s to its present-day reality.

Reception

Time magazine wrote "The first film about Kwanzaa, The Black Candle, narrated by Maya Angelou is fit for a poet."

The Daily Voice wrote, "I predict that viewing The Black Candle will become an annual family tradition in homes around the world."

The film won Best Full Length Documentary at the 2009 Africa World Documentary Film Festival.

In December 2020, the American Film Institute selected The Black Candle as a "holiday classic" and featured the film in AFI Movie Club Presents: Home for the Holidays, "highlighting the very best of the holiday cinema".

External links

• American Film Institute AFI Movie Club: THE BLACK CANDLE
• The Black Candle at IMDb