Barack Obama reveals his favourite films and TV shows of 2020
Forget the broadsheet newspapers. Forget the Oscars. The only list of the best movies and TV of the year worth listening to — except for Yahoo UK’s of course — is that of Barack Obama.
The 44th president of the United States shares his favourite cultural artefacts every year and 2020 is no different, with the Obamas no different to the rest of us in terms of spending a lot of time indoors.
Read more: Obama reveals favourite films of 2019
Several of Netflix’s biggest hits made the cut, including Mank, The Queen’s Gambit and this week’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom — featuring the final screen performance of Chadwick Boseman.
Obama also took the chance to plug the documentary Crip Camp, on which he and his wife Michelle are executive producers.
Like everyone else, we were stuck inside a lot this year, and with streaming further blurring the lines between theatrical movies and television features, I’ve expanded the list to include visual storytelling that I’ve enjoyed this year, regardless of format. pic.twitter.com/a8BS8jDkSs
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 18, 2020
British work is well represented on the list, with Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock — one of the Small Axe films — showing up alongside Michaela Coel’s terrific series I May Destroy You.
Coel responded to the presidential recognition with a smiling emoji.
— Michaela Coel (@MichaelaCoel) December 18, 2020
Obama also shone a spotlight on some work not in the English language, praising Russian movie Beanpole, bizarre Brazilian thriller Bacurau and the Romanian documentary Collective.
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It’s not all serious work, though, with Pixar’s new animated comedy Soul getting a mention and violent superhero The Boys also popping up on Obama’s list.
Never let it be said that the former POTUS isn’t a man of broad and diverse tastes.
Since he departed the White House at the beginning of 2017, Obama has spent a great deal of time involved in the film industry.
Along with Michelle, he signed a deal with Netflix to produce documentaries and other material for the streamer, including the Oscar-winning doc American Factory.
Read more: Everything coming to Netflix in December 2020
Crip Camp is another of their collaborations with Netflix through production company Higher Ground Productions.
The company also made the documentary Becoming, which focuses on Michelle Obama and serves as a companion piece to her memoir of the same name.
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