I Am Not Your Negro


I Am Not Your Negro is a 2016 documentary film directed by Raoul Peck, based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript Remember This House. Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as his personal observations of American history. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Academy Awards and won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.

Synopsis

This 93-minute feature documentary is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and is inspired by James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, a collection of notes and letters written by Baldwin in the mid-1970s. The memoir recounts the lives of his close friends and civil rights leaders Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers.

Release

The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the. Shortly after, Magnolia Pictures and Amazon Studios acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released for an Oscar-qualifying run on December 9, 2016, before re-opening on February 3, 2017.

Box office

I Am Not Your Negro grossed $7,089,174 in the United States as of 2017. The film industry website IndieWire attributed, in part, the financial success of the movie to the release shortly before the announcement of Academy Award nominees, opening in an unusually high number of cities, and in non-traditional movie theaters that would generate a word of mouth following.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 99% based on 203 reviews, with an average rating of 8.91/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "I Am Not Your Negro offers an incendiary snapshot of James Baldwin's crucial observations on American race relations—and a sobering reminder of how far we've yet to go." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 95 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The film received low user-generated ratings upon its release on IMDb and Metacritic, leading to accusations of vote brigading.
Joe Morgenstern from the Wall Street Journal said, "the film is unsparing as history and enthralling as biography. It's an evocation of a passionate soul in a tumultuous era, a film that uses Baldwin’s spoken words, and his notes for an unfinished book, to illuminate the struggle for civil rights."

Awards and nominations

I Am Not Your Negro was nominated for numerous international awards and won over a dozen, including the following:
AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipients and nomineesResult
Academy AwardsFebruary 26, 2017Best Documentary FeatureRaoul Peck
Rémi Grellety
Hébert Peck
Alliance of Women Film JournalistsDecember 21, 2016Best DocumentaryRaoul Peck
Alliance of Women Film JournalistsDecember 21, 2016Best EditingAlexandra Strauss
Austin Film Critics Association AwardsDecember 28, 2016Best DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
Black Film Critics CircleDecember 20, 2016Special MentionI Am Not Your Negro
Australian Film Critics AssociationMarch 13, 2018Best Documentary Film I Am Not Your Negro
Black Reel AwardsFebruary 16, 2017Best Feature DocumentaryRaoul Peck
British Academy Film AwardsFebruary 18, 2018Best DocumentaryRaoul Peck
Central Ohio Film Critics AssociationBest DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
52nd Chicago International Film FestivalOctober 21, 2016Audience Choice Award – Best Documentary FeatureRaoul Peck
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, USJanuary 11, 2017Cinema Eye Audience Choice PrizeRaoul Peck
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, USJanuary 11, 2017Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature FilmmakingRémi Grellety
Hébert Peck
Raoul Peck
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, USJanuary 11, 2017Outstanding Achievement in DirectionRaoul Peck
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, USJanuary 11, 2017Outstanding Achievement in EditingAlexandra Strauss
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, USJanuary 11, 2017Outstanding Achievement in Original Music ScoreAlexei Aigui
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association AwardsDecember 13, 2016Best Documentary FilmI Am Not Your Negro
Diversity in Media AwardsSeptember 15, 2017Movie of the Year AwardI Am Not Your Negro
Florida Film Critics Circle AwardsDecember 21, 2016Best Documentary FilmI Am Not Your Negro
Gotham AwardsNovember 28, 2016Audience AwardI Am Not Your Negro
Gotham AwardsNovember 28, 2016Best DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
Hamptons International Film FestivalAudience Award – Best DocumentaryRaoul Peck
Hamptons International Film FestivalBrizzolara Family Foundation Award for a Film of Conflict and Resolution – Best FilmRaoul Peck
Independent Spirit AwardsFebruary 27, 2016Best Documentary FeatureI Am Not Your Negro
IndieWire Critics PollDecember 19, 2016Best DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
IndieWire Critics PollDecember 19, 2016Best EditingAlexandra Strauss
International Documentary AssociationCreative Recognition Award – Best WritingRaoul Peck
James Baldwin
International Documentary AssociationIDA Award for Best FeatureRémi Grellety
Hébert Peck
Raoul Peck
International Documentary AssociationVideo Source AwardRaoul Peck
Los Angeles Film Critics Association AwardsDecember 4, 2016Best Documentary FilmI Am Not Your Negro
MTV Movie & TV AwardsMay 7, 2017Best DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 11, 2017Outstanding Documentary – FilmI Am Not Your Negro
National Society of Film Critics AwardsJanuary 7, 2016Best Non-Fiction FilmRaoul Peck
News and Documentary Emmy AwardsSeptember 24, 2019Outstanding Arts & Culture DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
News and Documentary Emmy AwardsSeptember 24, 2019Outstanding DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
North Carolina Film Critics AssociationJanuary 2, 2017Best Documentary FilmI Am Not Your Negro
Online Film Critics SocietyJanuary 3, 2017Best Documentary FilmI Am Not Your Negro
Philadelphia Film FestivalOctober 30, 2016Audience Award – Best FeatureRaoul Peck
Philadelphia Film FestivalOctober 30, 2016Jury Prize for Best Documentary FeatureRaoul Peck
San Francisco Film Critics CircleDecember 11, 2016Best Documentary FilmRaoul Peck
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics AssociationDecember 18, 2016Best Documentary FeatureI Am Not Your Negro
41st Toronto International Film FestivalSeptember 18, 2016People's Choice Award – DocumentaryRaoul Peck
Village Voice Film PollDecember 21, 2016Best DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association AwardsDecember 4, 2016Best DocumentaryI Am Not Your Negro
International Film Festival and Forum on Human RightsGilda Vieira de Mello AwardI Am Not Your Negro