M-Net Movies Blackout is the first of two pop-up channels that M-Net Movies will be running on DStv in the current financial year.
M-Net Movies Blackout will start on 3 June and run until midnight on Thursday, 30 June on DStv channel 109 for DStv Premium subscribers in South Africa and across Africa.
M-Net Movies Blackout will broadcast for 18 hours per day and show 170 films that include black American actors like Will Smith, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Hart, Tyler Perry, Wesley Snipes, Viola Davis, Morris Chestnut, Martin Lawrence, Mia Long, Vivica A. Fox and Zoe Saldana.
Some of the films that will be shown on M-Net Movies Blackout include Wild Wild West, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Bad Boys 2, Madea’s Witness Protection, Get Hard, Fast & Furious 7, The Wedding Ringer and Ride Along.
On Youth Day on 16 June, M-Net Movies Blackout will show local South African films with black stars that will include Jerusalema, Black Nativity, City of Violence, Jozi, Trevor Noah's comedy stand-up special Trevor Noah It’s My Culture and a first-run stand-up special, #VernacAttack.
M-Net says it's "putting an exciting, positive spin on the word 'blackout'. Instead of reaching for a torch, or lighting some candles, the word will inspire MultiChoice's DStv Premium customers to check-in at channel 109".
M-Net Movies Blackout will celebrate the contribution of black American actors in Hollywood and comes in the year that saw The Academy Awards being criticised for its lack of diversity in Oscars nominations in a "Oscars So White" campaign.
"Pop-up channels are currently all the rage worldwide and by creating these channels, it grants us an opportunity to curate available content for the enjoyment of viewers with different tastes," says Jan du Plessis, the director for M-Net channels.
"While movies with phenomenal African American talent are often scattered across our various channels, this will be the first time you’ll find them all on one channel".
Some of the films will also be made available on MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up service.
