Boyz n the Hood

“Wish I could kill that motherfucker,” says a ten-year-old boy after an older kid takes his football. In South Central Los Angeles, promises like that are often carried out.After the success of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, it became easier for Black filmmakers to secure funding. John Singleton, who grew up in South Central, was one of those who seized that opportunity. His passion for cinema kept him away from gang life and led him to film school. In his debut feature – now a classic – he told a story drawn from the people and events he knew from his own neighbourhood. For the first time, he brought to the screen a part of the city the wider world had barely seen: a district marked by poverty, violence and bloodshed. Early in the film, children come across a dead body in the bushes. Someone shoots at posters of Ronald Reagan. His administration supported the Nicaraguan Contras while knowing that cocaine was flowing into the United States and being turned into crack – the drug that fuelled gang fortunes and spiralling violence in poor neighbourhoods. With Boyz n the Hood, Singleton became the first African American director to be nominated for the Academy Award.

Maciej Jarkowiec

John Singleton (1968–2019) – American director, screenwriter, and producer, a groundbreaking figure in African American cinema. His debut feature Boyz n the Hood (1991) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, making him the first African American filmmaker and—at the age of 24—the youngest nominee in the category’s history, a record he still holds today. Singleton often cast prominent rappers in his films, including Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur.