Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

Birth : 1928-04-04, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Death : 2014-05-28

History

Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.

Profile

Maya Angelou

Movies

Why Is We Americans?
Self
The story focuses on Newark's Baraka family and its involvement in social activism, poetry, music, art and politics.
Minha Bateria Está Fraca e Está Ficando Tarde
herself
As the Sars-Covid 19 pandemic increased, Rubiane Maia was in Folkestone, England, and Tom Nobrega in Tarapoto, in the Peruvian Amazon. Both were surprised by the sudden need to cancel planned trips to Brazil, their homeland. The closed borders brought unusual situations and an unknown feeling of exile. As news from Brazil reaches the distance like rocks breaking their computer screens, blurring the line between what is personal and what is collective, the pair of friends share their bewilderment and try to find some resonance amid the overwhelming amount of information that floats the virtual space.
Becky and the Birds
Self (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
A short film based on the self-titled extended play album “Becky and the Birds” by Becky and the Birds (Thea Gustafsson).
Words Are Things
Narrator (voice)
Some day we’ll be able to measure the power of words but in the meantime let’s be careful about the words we use.
Mr. SOUL!
Self (archival footage)
On the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, one fearless black pioneer reconceived a Harlem Renaissance for a new era, ushering giants and rising stars of black American culture onto the national television stage. He was hip. He was smart. He was innovative, political, and gay. In his personal fight for social equality, this man ensured the Revolution would be televised. The man was Ellis Haizlip. The Revolution was soul!
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
Herself (archive footage)
A celebration of Dr. Maya Angelou by weaving her words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining civil rights moments. From her upbringing in the Depression-era South to her swinging soirees with Malcolm X in Ghana to her inaugural speech for President Bill Clinton, we are given special access to interviews with Dr. Angelou whose indelible charm and quick wit make it easy to love her.
I Hope You Dance: The Power and Spirit of Song
I HOPE YOU DANCE: the power and spirit of song is the first full length documentary film to explore how one extraordinary song has transformed people's lives in profound, meaningful and sometimes startling ways. It is a film about hope, faith, optimism and the power of music to inspire and heal. The film highlights true stories of Love, Inspiration, Second Chances, Forgiveness and Miracles: A father who honors his daughter's memory by saving four lives through organ donation; a homeless shelter that teaches ballroom dancing, literally getting people back on their feet; a woman who miraculously recovers from a devastating spinal cord injury that should have killed her instantly; a couple who overcome the pain of their respective pasts to find love and redemption; two Nashville songwriters whose life experiences combine to create breathtaking piece of music for the ages.
The Power of the Heart
Herself
From the director of ‘THE SECRET’ comes this unparalleled and life-changing film about the astonishing power and intelligence of your heart. Featuring some of the most inspiring and influential icons of our age including Paulo Coelho, Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Isabel Allende, and Eckhart Tolle, ‘THE POWER OF THE HEART’ – which ties into a book of the same name – is an experience that will lead you to uncover... and rediscover... the treasure in your chest.
Paul Simon: Under African Skies
Self
Paul Simon returns to South Africa to explore the incredible journey of his historic Graceland album, including the political backlash he received for allegedly breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the Apartheid regime. On the 25th anniversary of Paul Simon's GRACELAND, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger offers a glimpse at the controversy surrounding the decision to record the album in South Africa despite a UN boycott of the nation, which was aimed at ending apartheid. In the run-up to an eagerly anticipated reunion concert, Simon, Quincy Jones, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, Harry Belafonte, Paul McCartney and others reflect on the decision to record with local artists in South Africa, and the cultural impact of the album that delivered such hits as "I Know What I Know" and "You Can Call Me Al."
On the Shoulders of Giants
The story of the Harlem Rens: the greatest basketball team you never heard of.
Good Hair
Herself
An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, GOOD HAIR visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community.
The Black Candle
Poem
The origins of Kwanzaa and the seven principles upon which the pan-African holiday derives its meaning are explored in this fascinating documentary. Narrated by Maya Angelou.
The Black Candle
Herself (Narration)
The origins of Kwanzaa and the seven principles upon which the pan-African holiday derives its meaning are explored in this fascinating documentary. Narrated by Maya Angelou.
Madea's Family Reunion
May
Based upon Tyler Perry's acclaimed stage production, Madea's Family Reunion continues the adventures of Southern matriarch Madea. She has just been court ordered to be in charge of Nikki, a rebellious runaway, her nieces, Lisa and Vanessa, are suffering relationship trouble, and through it all, she has to organize her family reunion.
Sisters in Cinema
Self
Explores the careers of twenty black women working as film directors.
The Unfinished Journey
Maya Angelou
For the millennium New Year, Steven Spielberg agreed to create a 21 minute montage, supported by powerful narrations. It was a one-time performance. It tracks the good and the bad of our United States as it traveled through the ending century and millennium.
Down in the Delta
Director
A single mother plagued by alcohol and drug addictions is sent with her children from Chicago to her ancestral home in the Mississippi Delta, to live with her uncle and aunt for the summer.
Sesame Street: Elmo Saves Christmas
Narrator (voice)
Can there be such a thing as too much Christmas? Find out... when a magical Christmas wish is granted and Elmo gets to see what the world would be like if every day were Christmas! You'll enjoy lots of songs and holiday cheer with Elmo and his new friend Lightning, the reindeer, and discover for yourself why Christmas is best kept to one day a year!
Perfect Moment
Herself
In this documentary, artist-filmmaker Nicholas Hondrogen asks people to describe memorable moments of their lives. Some, such as Norman Lear and Indian activist Russell Means, talk about religion, while composer Philip Glass and film-producer Irwin Winkler discuss the births of their children. Pastor Jess Moody recalls WW II deaths of his friends, and artist Janice Blake remembers being raped.
Angelou on Burns
This award-winning documentary tells the story of the American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou’s journey to Ayrshire to visit the birthplace of fellow poet Robert Burns​. As a child, Angelou read Burns’ work and discovered similarities between her own life and his, which she explores throughout this documentary, filmed at the time of the bicentenary of Burns’ death.
America's Dream
Story
Made especially for the HBO cable network, this well-wrought feature is comprised of three short stories by three noted black American authors, each of which is directed by a respected black director.
How to Make an American Quilt
Anna
Soon-to-be-wed graduate student Finn Dodd develops cold feet when she suspects her fiancé is cheating on her. In order to clear her head, Finn visits her grandmother, Hy, and great aunt, Glady Joe Cleary, in Grasse, Calif. There, Finn learns that Hy and Glady Joe are members of a group of passionate quilters, and over the course of her visit she is regaled with tales of love and life by women who have collected rich experiences and much wisdom.
Sesame Street All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
Self (archive footage)
Sesame Street All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! was a 1994 TV special that aired on ABC to celebrate Sesame Street's 25th anniversary. It was originally broadcast on May 18, 1994. The show featured Joe Pesci (as Ronald Grump), Corbin Bernsen (as real estate attorney, Arnie), Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman (as a Worm TV hosts), John Goodman (as Tough Guy Helpline operator), Charles Grodin (as Chaz), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (as reporter Kathie Lee Kathie), Rosie O'Donnell (as the Good Hope Fairy), Susan Sarandon (as Bitsy), Barbara Walters (reporting for 25/25), and Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford (as themselves).
Malcolm X: Make It Plain
Self
Narrated by actress Alfre Woodard, this trenchant, eye-opening doc traces the radical civil rights leader’s life from his tumultuous childhood, through his rise in the ranks of the Nation of Islam, to his 1965 assassination.
There Are No Children Here
Lelia Mae
From Publishers Weekly The devastating story of brothers Lafayette and Pharoah Rivers, children of the Chicago ghetto, is powerfully told here by Kotlowitz, a Wall Street Journal reporter who first met the boys in 1985 when they were 10 and seven, respectively. Their family includes a mother, a frequently absent father, an older brother and younger triplets. We witness the horrors of growing up in an ill-maintained housing project tyrannized by drug gangs and where murders and shootings frequently occur.
Poetic Justice
Aunt June
Still grieving after the murder of her boyfriend, hairdresser Justice writes poetry to deal with the pain of her loss. Unable to get to Oakland to attend a convention because of her broken-down car, Justice gets a lift with her friend, Iesha and Iesha's postal worker boyfriend, Chicago. Along for the ride is Chicago's co-worker, Lucky, to whom Justice grows close after some initial problems. But is she ready to open her heart again?
James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket
Self
James Baldwin was at once a major 20th century American author, a Civil Rights activist and, for two crucial decades, a prophetic voice calling Americans, black and white, to confront their shared racial tragedy.
Aimé Césaire: The Mask of Words
Self
Aimé Césaire - Le Masque des mots is a portrait of the Martinican writer who calls himself a rebellious negro and for whom the poetic act represents an act of freedom.
Sister, Sister
Writer
Heated confrontations and revelations result when a divorcee returns with her young son to the home of her two sisters.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Writer
Based on writer Maya Angelou's eloquent reminiscences of her days as a gifted youngster growing up in the South during the Depression years where she and her older brother were raised by their grandmother after the divorce of their parents.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Novel
Based on writer Maya Angelou's eloquent reminiscences of her days as a gifted youngster growing up in the South during the Depression years where she and her older brother were raised by their grandmother after the divorce of their parents.
The Tapestry
Director
A television drama directed by Maya Angelou. In 1975, the accomplished writer became the first African American woman to join the Directors Guild of America in the director’s category. Produced by trailblazing TV executive Barbara Schultz, Visions often focused on complex themes including social justice, feminism, race and sexuality. Executive Producer: Barbara Schultz. Director: Maya Angelou. Writer: Alexis DeVeaux. With: Gloria Jones Schultz, Glynn Turman, Ebony Wright.
All Day Long
Director
A young orphaned boy comes to live with his aunt and discovers that his best friend is having an affair with her.
Georgia, Georgia
Music
Georgia, a black American singer, comes to Stockholm for a show. She meets an American deserter and soon they have fallen in love. But Georgia's assistant Alberta tell her to stick to her own kind.
Georgia, Georgia
Writer
Georgia, a black American singer, comes to Stockholm for a show. She meets an American deserter and soon they have fallen in love. But Georgia's assistant Alberta tell her to stick to her own kind.
Integration Report 1
Music
Integration Report 1, Madeline Anderson's trailblazing debut, was the first known documentary by an African American female director. With tenacity, empathy and skill, Anderson assembles a vital record of desegregation efforts around the country in 1959 and 1960, featuring footage by documentary legends Albert Maysles and Richard Leacock and early Black cameraman Robert Puello, singing by Maya Angelou, and narration by playwright Loften Mitchell. Anderson fleetly moves from sit-ins in Montgomery, Alabama to a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C. to a protest of the unprosecuted death in police custody of an unarmed Black man in Brooklyn, capturing the incredible reach and scope of the civil rights movement, and working with this diverse of footage, as she would later say, “like an artist with a palette using different colors.”
Porgy and Bess
Dancer
Set in the early 1900s in the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina, which serves as home to a black fishing community, the story focuses on the titular characters, crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, and the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.
Calypso Heat Wave
A jukebox operator helps promote a calypso craze.