Survival began with a song
The story of legendary blues performer, Bessie Smith, who rose to fame during the 1920s and '30s.
Queen Latifah
Bessie Smith
Mo'Nique
Ma Rainey
Mike Epps
Richard
Tika Sumpter
Lucille
Michael Kenneth Williams
Jack Gee
Charles S. Dutton
William 'Pa' Rainey
Bryan Greenberg
John Hammond
Oliver Platt
Carl Van Vechten
Khandi Alexander
Viola
Tory Kittles
Clarence
Kamryn Johnson
Young Bessie
Rikki McKinney
Chorus Guy
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
2020
Hounddog
2008
Cadillac Records
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
1999
Iron Jawed Angels
2004
Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B
2014
A Dry White Season
1989
My Brother the Devil
2012
Girlfight
2000
The Safety of Objects
2002
Pariah
2011
Preacher's Kid
2010
Bruised
2021
Beast
2026
Boxcar Bertha
1972
Sarafina!
1992
Lucky Them
2013
Suburbia
1984
Boys Don't Cry
44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out
2003
