15 Afro-Latino Movies You Should Stream for Black History Month

When the White House decided to change February from “Black History Month” to “African American History Month,” it inadvertently narrowed the scope and the impact of this annual celebration. It put nationality at the center of the month’s events and put an even greater weight on what can sometimes be a limiting identity marker. But black history reaches across nations and cultures. Its story cannot be told let alone exalted by merely looking at American history, for, despite recent political rhetoric, the United States is a nation of immigrants. And that means that in addition to celebrating heroes like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Frederick Douglass (who really has done an amazing job, we hear), this month should also speak to Afro-Cubans in Miami and Afro-Mexicans in California. It should get people to look back at the history of Haitian refugees and to think through Brazil’s own slavery legacy. Often forgotten, let us focus also on highlighting those of mixed-heritage whose stories speak crucially about intersectional identities. And as Afro-Latinas Christina Milian, Tatyana Ali, and Judy Reyes remind us in a short doc called “Black and Latino,” straddling those lines can pose a challenge.

With that in mind we set about finding films that represented the Afro-Latino experience in all its forms. From Oscar-nominated crossover hits to ethnographic documentaries tracing cross-continental legacies, consider these 15 films a good place to start to see how filmmakers in the Americas have depicted Afro-Latinos on screen. Better yet, they’re all available to stream from the comfort of your own home, so you can plan your very own film festival.