'I Am Not Your Negro' Director Raoul Peck Talks Baldwin, Race And Hollywood
Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube
I Am Not Your Negro, Raoul Peck's documentary on the legendary James Baldwin, is now one of the highest grossing documentaries of all time.
READ: A Personal Archive Of James Baldwin's Work Is Returning To Harlem
As Shadow & Act reports, after spending 126 days in U.S. theaters I Am Not Your Negro earned $7,123,919 at the box office, earning it the number 33 ranking on the all-time USA box office of the highest grossing documentaries of all time.
The list is topped by Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 which earned $119 million over the course of its entire theatrical run in 2004. However, it is important to note that unlike Fahrenheit 9/11, which was screened in 2,000 to 3,500 theaters, I Am Not Your Negro had a theatrical release of only 320 screens.
The Peck documentary is also expanding, having had openings in Australia, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom and more.
In other Baldwin-related news, a personal archive of his work was returned to Harlem, where the artist was born and raised.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture announced its acquiring of the personal archive of the iconic author, which includes 30 linear feet of handwritten letters and manuscripts; handwritten and typed drafts of essays, novels and short stories; unpublished and published creative works in their nascent and final stages; and much more.
The archive is a part of the exhibition The Evidence of Things Seen: Selections from the James Baldwin Papers.
"We are more than excited to have James Baldwin return home to Harlem," Kevin Young, Director of the Schomburg Center, said in a statement. "Baldwin's amazing collection adds to our ever-growing holdings of writers, political figures, artists and cultural icons across the African diaspora. With the current resurgence of interest in Baldwin's works and words and renovation of our own spaces from the main gallery to the Schomburg Shop, the timing couldn't be better for Baldwin to join us at the Schomburg Center. As a writer myself, I am eager for students, scholars and other writers — I count myself among all three — to have the opportunity to see his profound writing process up close."
Source: shadowandact.com
