The ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ Trailer Previews The Most Important Documentary Of The Year

James Baldwin’s untimely death in 1987 meant that the renowned American novelist was unable to finish his book Remember This House, a close examination of the assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., all of whom Baldwin called friends.

Three decades later, master filmmaker Raoul Peck has revisited Baldwin’s unfinished work in the documentary I Am Not Your Negro, an unflinching look at how race relations in America have evolved from the civil rights era all the way to the Black Lives Matter movement. 

In the first trailer, we get a glimpse at how Peck has woven together Baldwin’s words with archival footage, interviews with Baldwin, and narration by Samuel L. Jackson to craft what James Bailey of Flavorwire calls “the most urgent movie of 2016.”

Peck said the goal of the film was to give audiences as clear a window into how Baldwin thought as possible. “I didn't want any talking heads, I didn't want anybody to interpret him, to speak for him," he told The Hollywood Reporter in November. "I wanted to be inside his head.”

The film recently made Oscar’s best documentary shortlist, and it’s likely to go all the way. I Am Not Your Negro hits theaters February 3. Watch the trailer above.