The Black Candle is a documentary film about Kwanzaa directed by M. K. Asante and narrated by Maya Angelou.[1] The film premiered on cable television on Starz on November, 2012.
The Black Candle uses Kwanzaa as a vehicle to explore and celebrate the African-American experience. Narrated by the poet Maya Angelou and directed by author and filmmaker M. K. Asante, The Black Candle is about the struggle and triumph of African-American family, community, and culture. The documentary traces the holiday's growth out of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s to its present-day reality.
Time magazine wrote "The first film about Kwanzaa, The Black Candle, narrated by Maya Angelou is fit for a poet."[2]
The Daily Voice wrote, "I predict that viewing The Black Candle will become an annual family tradition in homes around the world."[3]
The film won Best Full Length Documentary at the 2009 Africa World Documentary Film Festival.[4]
In December 2020, the American Film Institute selected The Black Candle as a "holiday classic" and featured the film in AFI Movie Club Presents: Home for the Holidays, "highlighting the very best of the holiday cinema".