I Am Not Your Negro

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Raoul Peck directs. Turner Ross behind the camera. Alexandra Strauss cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Belgium, France, United States of America. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 7.1× over at the box office.
• 3Released 9 years ago.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
• 5International production across 3 countries: Belgium, France, United States of America.
• 6Directed by Raoul Peck, shot by Turner Ross. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Editor Alexandra Strauss shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Samuel L. Jackson and James Baldwin and Martin Luther King Jr. carry the top of the cast.
• 9IMDB entry: tt5804038 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 16 themes, including "society", "race politics", "interview", "martin luther king".

The technical file

Cinematography

Turner Ross

Editing

Alexandra Strauss

Sound

David Gillain

Runtime

93 min · 1h 33m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,000,000

Box office

$7,123,919

Return

712% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

I Am Not Your Negro (2017) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

99% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

95/100

IMDB rating

7.9/10 · 24,992 votes

MPAA

PG-13

Also by

Raoul Peck

• 
  It's Not About Love

  1998 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Haitian Corner

  1988 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Merry Christmas Deutschland

  1985 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

  2024 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Exterminate All the Brutes

  2021 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Orwell: 2+2=5

  2025 · ★ 7.2

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  James Baldwin on the Dick Cavett Show

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Real Danger

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Baldwin/Cavitt

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Separate Walks

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Future of America

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Black Population

  Clip · Official

Production companies

Who made it

• IN

  Independent Lens

  US

• 

  RTBF

  BE

• 

  ARTE

  FR

• 

  Shelter Prod

  BE

• 

  RTS

  CH

• 

  Velvet Film

  FR

Key crew

• Digital Imaging TechnicianTrevor Cohen
• Supervising ProducerAmy Shatsky-Gambrill
• Sound Re-Recording MixerDavid Gillain
• ProducerHébert Peck
• Key GripNathan Buffaloe
• First Assistant CameraLeroy Chen
• Sound RecordistDavid Gérain
• Co-ProducerJoëlle Bertossa
• Co-ProducerPatrick Quinet
• ProducerRaoul Peck
• Key GripJohn Guillen
• Consulting ProducerAudrey Rosenberg
• Foley ArtistPhilippe van Leer
• ProducerRémi Grellety
• Sound EditorValérie Le Docte
• First Assistant CameraPierce Robinson
• Scenario WriterRaoul Peck
• EditorAlexandra Strauss
• MusicAlexei Aigui
• Sound DesignerDavid Gillain
• Sound DesignerValérie Le Docte

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• society
• race politics
• interview
• martin luther king
• racism
• 1950s
• 1960s
• malcom x
• negritude
• contestation
• medgar evers
• united states of america (usa)
• james baldwin
• historical documentary
• american apartheid
• fight against racism

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2016-10-01· New York Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2017-02-03R

Also known as

International titles

• Remember This HouseUS
• Je ne suis pas votre nègreFR