{THREAD} France used to be the land of the free for African-Americans. But the reality has always been very different for Blacks of African and Caribbean descent. Let's understand and deconstruct racism in France in 7 films - with a special focus on #women... 
1. 1. The invention of the Other : BLACK VENUS (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2009)
The film shows how Saartjie Baartman, the "Hottentot Venus", is forced to play the savage to meet audience expectations, an audience that cannot imagine Black women in any other light...
The film shows how Saartjie Baartman, the "Hottentot Venus", is forced to play the savage to meet audience expectations, an audience that cannot imagine Black women in any other light...
1.2 This construction of the Other is a key element of racism. Today still, some media and politicians do not hesitate to create a truncated image of Black people to shape public opinion – for example, the threatening “youth from the hood” figure.
2. Class/Race:BLACK GIRL (Ousmane Sembène,1966)
The 1st feature directed by an African filmmaker superposes race relations and a Marxist reading of class struggle; today, we would call this intersectionality. A beautiful film abt immigration but from the woman's point of view
The 1st feature directed by an African filmmaker superposes race relations and a Marxist reading of class struggle; today, we would call this intersectionality. A beautiful film abt immigration but from the woman's point of view
3.1. THE French film about police violence : LES MISERABLES (@ladjLY, 2019)
What I particularly liked is that it shows how the rupture of the Republic’s egalitarian pact (a French motto) triggers a spiral of violence.
What I particularly liked is that it shows how the rupture of the Republic’s egalitarian pact (a French motto) triggers a spiral of violence.
3.2 If the police no longer respect the citizens they are meant to protect, they in turn lose the respect they are supposed to be granted. All that is left, then, is confrontation and hatred. Both ways. A must see in the aftermath of #GeorgeFloyd & #AdamaTraore 's tragic deaths.
4.1. Afrofeminism : SPEAK UP (Amandine Gay @OrpheoNegra, 2016)
What does it mean to be a Black woman in France? From the difficulty of being accepted with their Afro hair, to workplace discrimination, to the exoticizing gaze of white men or the disinterest of Black men (...)
What does it mean to be a Black woman in France? From the difficulty of being accepted with their Afro hair, to workplace discrimination, to the exoticizing gaze of white men or the disinterest of Black men (...)
4.2. ... who prefer white or brown women, this documentary helps us to understand from the inside the effects of being exposed to racism since childhood. On the same topic, also watch the insightful @MariannesNoires by Mame-Fatou Niang.
5.1. The burden of slavery in the French West Indies : SUGAR CANE ALLEY (@EuzhanPalcy, 1983)
Slavery was forbidden on mainland France - which helped people forget about it. But it shaped the French Caribbean ex-colonies in a way that still can be seen today :
Slavery was forbidden on mainland France - which helped people forget about it. But it shaped the French Caribbean ex-colonies in a way that still can be seen today :
5.2. plantation economy, unofficial but effective racial segregation, colorism... Shot by black female director Euzhan Palcy when she was only 24, Sugar Cane Alley is a rare and necessary film that document the Antillean reality.
@MurielWiltord @cmtMartinique
@MurielWiltord @cmtMartinique
6.1. White Privilege : MY FRIEND VICTORIA (Jean-Paul Civeyrac, 2014)
Transposing Doris Lessing’s short story from London to Paris, Jean-Paul Civeyrac sets the plot in a family of white champagne socialist bobos. None of them possibly imagine themselves to be racist.
Transposing Doris Lessing’s short story from London to Paris, Jean-Paul Civeyrac sets the plot in a family of white champagne socialist bobos. None of them possibly imagine themselves to be racist.
6.2. The mother has indeed always “dreamed of having a mixed-race little girl”. And everyone wants to help the young Black Victoria, who comes from a poor background. But without even realizing it, they little by little strip her of what is most precious to her.
7.1 Class does not erase race: TOO BLACK TO BE FRENCH? (Isabelle Boni-Claverie, 2015)
And my own film, a documentary that mixes my family story with a more sociological approach. In a country officially colorblind, being black still leads to a denial of your French citizenship.
And my own film, a documentary that mixes my family story with a more sociological approach. In a country officially colorblind, being black still leads to a denial of your French citizenship.
7.2. Dwelving into French colonial past, I decipher the contradictions and the rampant racism of the country of the "Human Rights". It can be seen with English Subtitles on Vimeo 👉 vimeo.com/ondemand/toobl…
