#16: Bessie (2015)
Before record labels and radio hits, Bessie Smith sang her truth under circus tents and in smoky theaters. Rapper and Pop icon Queen Latifah inhabits her with both grandeur and grit, revealing a woman who built her own stage when the world offered none.
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The film glows with sepia warmth, its costumes and brass horns transporting viewers to the 1920s. Bessie drinks, fights, and loves loudly; proof that survival can be as artful as any song.