Black Hollywood: They've Gotta Have Us

When `Moonlight' became the first film with an all-black cast to win Best Picture at the Oscars, the win was nothing short of historic. The Oscar-winning `Moonlight' became a symbol for black cinema, a revolutionary moment when black filmmakers could identify when diversity and inclusion really started to take over the industry.

Inspired by Spike Lee's 1989 hit `Do The Right Thing', a new generation of black filmmakers burst onto the scene with an exciting new genre: `The Hood Movie'. `Boyz In The Hood' creates stars, yet this exciting moment turned into a passing fad leading to an era when only white directors like Steven Spielberg were telling prominent black stories. This era see's the emergence of the bankable black Hollywood stars: Eddie Murphy, Will Smith and Denzel Washington.

A look at the post `Black Panther' era, where black movies are no longer seen as a genre and black filmmakers are no longer seen as non-bankable, an era where `Moonlight' won Best Picture and the director of `Get Out' won Best Original Screenplay, the number of award winners and nominees are steadily growing. Amongst these winners there is a generation of British stars following in the footsteps of Steve McQueen and `12 Years of Slave' who have left Britain.