A Look Inside the Ivy and Bean Film Series
The tale of two friends spans three films and gives wonderful representation for young girls everywhere.

In 1957, Ghana was the first African country to become independent of its colonial rulers, in this case the British. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of what in 1960 became the Republic of Ghana, called on Africans from all over the world to come to Ghana to help build the new nation. The most important aim was to "undo the damage caused by the slave trade" as filmmaker Shirikiana Aina expressed it in her documentary Footprints of Pan Africanism. Several people speak in Aina’s film about the reconstruction of Ghana and Nkrumah, who was deposed in 1966, offering room for their frequently gripping personal stories. These are often marked by racism, the emerging civil rights movement and what it’s like to be black and live elsewhere. For many, returning to Africa was like going home.
The tale of two friends spans three films and gives wonderful representation for young girls everywhere.
Here are some of our picks for inclusive Black love stories in film and media. We hope you enjoy these tender love stories and beautiful depictions.
Black Panther was obviously an epic movie and big hit! It was the highest-earning superhero movie of all time in the US! It's pretty clear that Black Panther has more meaning for race and diversity than your average Marvel superhero movie. This movie means a lot in terms of black pride and representation - and has much cultural significance in America as a whole.
'Living' dives into many themes that we can all understand regardless of our cultural backgrounds. We can see this through the shared similarities between 'Ikiru' and 'Living'.
While the director didn't set out to make a feminist film, "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night" reads as a reclamation of female power in a patriarchal society.
A young girl who is determined to sail the ocean within 210 days at sea brings an adventurous story for viewers.