One of the best romcoms of all time, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s early aughts classic is a love story, a coming of age tale, and a sports film all in one. Two prodigious basketball players meet, fall in love, and take wildly different paths through the world of high school, college, and professional basketball.

Spike Lee directed and stared in this cult classic comedy set at a Historically Black University in the South. Lee handles tense issues like classism, colorism, political activism, and hair texture bias with musical numbers in this fun, sometimes serious, always engaging comedy.

The only film ever directed by revered poet Maya Angelou tells the story of a family fighting to recover from generational and racial trauma in rural Mississippi. True to Angelou, the film is simultaneously powerful and understated with phenomenal acting and a heart-wrenching plot.