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Reposting this from Friday. I got lots of helpful responses, and even learned of a couple of titles that I didn’t know existed. So, here’s the post again, to continue the flow, in case you missed the original post, and have some titles to add that haven’t already.

Alright folks, I need some help from you guys here. As the title suggests, I’m working on a future post, and one part of my research requires that I compile a complete list of independent black feature films that have been released theatrically in the USA since the beginning of this century. And that’s where you come in.

First, I should define some terms here; “black feature film” means fictional narrative films that tell stories primarily about people of African descent (no documentaries). The cultural/racial heritage of the filmmaker is irrelevant. And “independent” means that the...

Dwayne and Mai are two grown Vietnamese refugees long separated from their real parents. Raised in the United States by a onetime immigration worker and his wife, who are black and are all one could ever want in foster parents, Dwayne and Mai are in for unexpected problems and resolutions when their past lives are reopened.

Not exactly the "East Meets Soul City" premise it's being marketed as by distributor Black Hawk Entertainment, "Catfish in Black Bean Sauce" is the moderately engaging writing-directing debut of the film's lead actor and producer, Chi Muoi Lo. A native of Vietnam who grew up in Philadelphia, Lo is paired romantically on screen with Sanaa Lathan ("Love and Basketball") as Nina, Dwayne's loving but aloof fiancee.

While some technical aspects of the production are at times subpar, and overall the film desperately needs tightening, Lo's "Catfish" tells a compelling story of one family reforming as another is breaking up, with many cross-cultural tensions and communication problems but with little or no predictable racial cliches.

There's an untidiness to the way the film unfolds that will tax the patience of some viewers, but mostly the film provides meaty dramatic showdowns that the laboring-for-love cast attacks with vigor. Unfortunately, Lo has much to learn when it comes to staging scenes. The camera rarely moves, and many awkward moments result from shots held on actors for too long.

Indeed, Lo the director will occasionally linger on his own shifting visage as Dwayne blankly or nervously reacts to the intense emotional displays going on around him. For most of the movie, Dwayne is a contentious jerk, working successfully as a bank manager and head over heels in love with Nina, but also stubborn, defensive and self-deprecating to a fault.

Dwayne's crisis of identity --he sounds like he's black, and he's shorter than Nina -- causes his big marriage plans to be put on hold. But his world is really shaken up when his sister Mai (Lauren Tom) locates their real mother, Thanh (Kieu Chinh), and the aging Vietnamese widow comes to America. Dwayne and Mai's adoptive parents Harold (Paul Winfield) and Dolores (Mary Alice) hear the news about Mai's successful search with disappointment and soon feel threatened, then abandoned.

Dwayne is not friendly to Thanh and is cold to everyone else, driving the sincerely smitten and commitment-minded Nina away. Mai embraces Thanh and treats the crushed Dolores badly. Peacemaker Harold is fated to have a medical emergency that briefly draws certain parties together.

Lo goes out of his way to include a subplot involving the sexual orientation of Dwayne's roommate Michael (Tyler Christopher). This unfunny riff on "The Crying Game" allows Lo to scrunch up his face with a case of the homophobic willies.

There are quite a few jokes and lines of dialogue that fall flat, but the primary attraction of the film does come through in Lo and Lathan's scenes together, while formidable veterans Alice, Winfield and Chinh serve up tasty performances.

CATFISH IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Black Hawk Entertainment

Iron Hill Pictures

Writer-producer-director: Chi Muoi Lo

Co-producer: Stanley Yung

Director of photography: Dean Lent

Production designer: Skyler J.D. Adler

Editor: Dawn Hoggatt

Costume designer: Maral Kalinian

Music: Stanley A. Smith

Casting: Eileen Mack Knight, Meredith Behrend

Color/stereo

Cast:

Dwayne: Chi Muoi Lo

Nina: Sanaa Lathan

Harold Williams: Paul Winfield

Dolores Williams: Mary Alice

Mai: Lauren Tom

Thanh: Kieu Chinh

Michael: Tyler Christopher

Running time - 111 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13...