"We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us!"

February marks Black History Month, and the Rio Theatre is honouring that with a double bill screening on February 1, featuring two significant films in a a double bill including a 4K restoration of Senegalese director Ousmane Sembène's landmark 1966 film BLACK GIRL (aka, "La noire de...", #97 in Sight and Sound's most recent poll of The Greatest Films of All Time), paired with what many film-lovers believe to be filmmaker Spike Lee's most important film (not to mention Denzel Washington's most indelible performance), MALCOLM X.

Lee's grand, sweeping epic MALCOLM X is a tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. The film chronicles the iconic figure who hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride. With Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee, James McDaniel, Al Freeman Jr, Lonette McKee.

"This is an extraordinary life, and Spike Lee has told it in an extraordinary film." (Roger Ebert)

"Lee and company have performed a powerful service: they have brought Malcolm X very much to life again, both as man and myth." (Newsweek)

"A spiritually enriching testament to the human capacity for change -- and surely Spike Lee's most universally appealing film." (Washington Post)

"An ambitious, tough, seriously considered biographical film that, with honor, eludes easy characterization." (New York Times)

MALCOLM X
7:45 pm *As this is a double feature, this is an approximate start time. Please arrive on time

MALCOLM X (Spike Lee, 1992 / 202 mins / 14A) Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam.