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Beyond the Shadows: The Untold Black History of Film Noir

Beyond the Shadows: The Untold Black History of Film Noir

Filmmaker Tarik Rashaan Davis takes a deep dive into the evolution of the film noir genre, spanning from classic hard-boiled noir to neo-noir and explores it's roots in Black culture.

Tarik Rashaan Davis smiling while talking about noir with Humphrey Bogart and Denzel Washington

What is Film Noir?

While often defined as "crime with a twist", the origins of the genre go much deeper than the black-and-white classics we know. In this deep dive, filmmaker Tarik Rashaan Davis explores the evolution of the genre, spanning from classic hard-boiled noir to neo-noir.

Tarik attempts to crack the case of why film noir feels so Black-coded to him, even though in the majority of the genre’s films he barely sees people like himself represented.

Is film noir a very political sub genre that speaks to the times we’re living in now? Is it a genre that is in need of a big resurgence? Can noir save Hollywood? And most important of all…Does Noir mean Black?