In commemoration of Black History Month, Time Magazine and CNN have teamed up to compile a list of the century’s Most Important Films on Race.

“At first, blacks were invisible; when they were allowed to be seen, it was mostly as derisive comic relief. The 1950s ushered in the age of the noble Negro, in the imposing person of Sidney Poitier — the Jackie Robinson of movies.”

“Only when Hollywood realized that a sizable black audience would pay to see films more reflective of their lives, whether funny, poignant or violent, were they given control of the means of production. Sometimes. The fact remains that of the 25 films here, chosen to cover the widest range of black films, fewer than half were directed by blacks.”

Time Magazine Twenty-Five Most Important Films On Race:

Hallelujah! (1929)
Judge Priest (1934)
Imitation of Life (1934)
God’s Step Children (1938)
The Duke Is Tops (1938)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
The Blood of Jesus (1941)
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
Native Son (1951)
Carmen Jones (1954)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Sweet Sweetback’s Baad Asssss Song (1971)
Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
Cooley High (1975)
Killer of Sheep (1977)
Richard Pryor Live in Concert (1979)
A Soldier’s Story (1984)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Boyz N the Hood (1991)
Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Bamboozled (2000)
Madea’s Family Reunion (2002)
I Am Legend (2007)