The Archive

A living history of Black cinema

Our archive includes films and related materials that relate to evolving historical understandings of "Blackness," including but not limited to Black Americans, the peoples of Africa, and the global African diaspora. Over our 45-year history, we have collected films with substantial participation by Black people as writers, actors, producers, directors, musicians, and consultants, as well as those which depict some aspect of the Black experience.

We support the instructional and research needs of Indiana University faculty, students, researchers, and the general public in an academic environment as well as on-site visitors.

Our collections feature more than

11,600digitized items

8,000+films

3,000+photographs

4,000+posters

550reference books

1,500lobby cards

Learn more about archival and primary source research

The archival process

Learn about the processes behind creating, organizing, and preserving archival collections.

Conducting research

Learn why primary source research is valuable and discover helpful online resources.

Research at the BFCA

Using our archives

Image and film licensing

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Harmful language statement

“Reparative archival work does not pretend to ignore the imperialist, racist, homophobic, sexist, ableist, and other discriminatory traditions of mainstream archives, but instead acknowledges these failures and engages in conscious actions toward a wholeness that may seem to be an exercise in futility but in actuality is an ethical imperative for all within traditional archival spaces.”

—Lae'l Hughes-Watkins, “Moving Toward a Reparative Archive: A Roadmap for a Holistic Approach to Disrupting Homogenous Histories in Academic Repositories and Creating Inclusive Spaces for Marginalized Voices”