Sidney

In 1964, Bahamas-raised Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win an Academy Award, breaking the “black ceiling” and inspiring others to follow. Not bad for a boy born in 1927 to poor Miami farmers. He would become Hollywood’s biggest box-office star in 1967 and moved behind the camera to direct the smash-hit comedy Stir Crazy.

But as this frank, cheery and broad-ranging documentary underlines, Poitier’s legacy extended farther than his film work. Among the contributors assembled, Spike Lee credits him as a key figure in the struggle for civil rights and in later life he became a diplomat on the world stage.