Following its screening in the Spotlight on Documentary section of the 54th New York Film Festival, director Raoul Peck discussed his film I Am Not Your Negro with festival selection committee member Dennis Lim. His film looks at and provides a modern-day context to James Baldwin’s final, unfinished work, Remember This House, about the deaths of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Since its NYFF screening, I Am Not Your Negro has gone on to receive numerous awards and accolades, most recently a nomination for Best Documentary Feature in the 89th Academy Awards. The film also screened on November 25, as part of Blackout for Human Rights’ third annual #BlackoutBlackFriday, which includes a nationwide call to action encouraging individuals to refrain from shopping and instead engage in cultural activism.

Watch this discussion with the filmmaker about the importance of Baldwin’s writing in his life, applying it to current events, and the power of capturing and sharing video footage. I Am Not Your Negro opens this Friday, February 3, at Film Society of Lincoln Center.

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