TV :: The Black List

”The Black List’ highlights African-American luminaries
By Mekeisha Madden Toby
Detroit News
Article Last Updated: 08/25/2008 12:05:06 AM PDT

The African-American experience is not relegated to February, declares film critic Elvis Mitchell, whose HBO documentary “The Black List: Volume One” premieres tonight.

A Detroit native and former New York Times film critic, Mitchell, 50, has moved behind the camera, and with the help of acclaimed photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders created “The Black List,” a series of interviews with African-American luminaries in literature, sports, entertainment and politics, including Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In addition to touring all over the country to promote “The Black List,” he hosts “Elvis Mitchell: Under the Influence” on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), interviewing the likes of Emmy- and Tony-winning actor Laurence Fishburne and comedic legend Bill Murray. Mitchell’s show will return in January.

Here’s what Mitchell had to say about the film — which he dedicated to the late Bernie Mac — and other subjects…[read the rest]