Notable directors include Dušan Makavejev, Žika Pavlović, Aleksandar Petrović, Želimir Žilnik, Mika Antić, Lordan Zafranović, Mića Popović, Đorđe Kadijević and Marko Babac.

The films provoked a reaction from the ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia, whose official newspaper Borba published an article written by Vladimir Jovičić titled Crni val u našem filmu (A Black Wave in Our Cinema)[4] on August 3, 1969, which coined the movement's name.

These events marked the end of the Black Wave and the beginning of the Years of Lead in Yugoslav cinematography, characterized by the stifling of creative freedoms in the country.

Black Wave films, both fictional and documentary, largely criticized Yugoslav society and its socialist ideology, particularly government officials and the extent of their authority.

They represent the opposite of classic socialist cultural aestheticism (most often seen in Partisan films) which depicted Yugoslavia's resistance movement during World War II and its postwar social and economic progress.

[11][12] Notable Black Wave filmmakers include Aleksandar Petrović, Živojin Pavlović, Đorđe Kadijević, Dušan Makavejev, Mića Popović, Lordan Zafranović, Želimir Žilnik, Lazar Stojanović, Ljubiša Kozomara, Gordan Mihić, Vojislav Kokan Rakonjac, Jovan Jovanović, Bahrudin Čengić and others.

[19] Žilnik's film prompted writer and journalist Vladimir Jovičić to write Crni val u našem filmu (A Black Wave in Our Cinema), published in Borba on August 3, 1969, which gave the movement its name.

Films from the wave won a plethora of international recognition, including a Golden Bear, Silver Bear for Best Director, Cannes Grand Prix, six nominations for Cannes Palme d'Or and four nominations for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, with success continuing through directors emerging from the wave, including two Palme d'Or awards in 1980s and 1990s.

Film historian Mina Radovic presented the first international retrospective of the Yugoslav Black Wave at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in September 2023.