directed by Rosine Mfetgo Mbakam, An van Dienderen & Éléonore Yaméogo
The African Film Festival has started for me and perhaps I’ll surprise you with today’s recommendation because it’s a film I was incredibly sceptical about before watching. I checked the description and it said this documentary is focused on the topic of racism coming from photographic technology. Wait, what? I was highly confused, but obviously curious so I ended up watching the film. Turns out it’s way more complex and less drastic than the description suggests. Indeed, we get a chance to study about the history of photography and how, back then, that industry was very much focused on providing a quality technology in order to capture white people well, while those of different skin colours weren’t that visible and clear on the screen or photograph. I’m not a technician and I don’t want to explain it in a wrong way, especially since everything is beautifully presented in the documentary, but shortly speaking – all kinds of parameters and settings were adjusted to white-skinned actors/models/presenters. The reason why I was sceptical about watching this film was because I honestly thought (and still do) that racism comes from actions people do consciously, while I didn’t see it coming from the said industry. And I was very pleasantly surprised to see the narration in this documentary which is far from blaming photographic technology for spreading racism. In fact, we may listen to cinema people agreeing that it was a matter of business, shortly speaking. In the past, most people being photographed on a big scale were white, so obviously most technological devices and materials were produced with such view. Moreover, black-skinned guests of this documentary point out that a lot of technicians might still not know how to set their devices to photograph a non-white person, but, what’s most important, they are willing to cooperate and support each other. I also appreciated focusing on the future instead of the past. It’s clear that a lot of situations shouldn’t have happened, but this never-ending deliberation about the past can’t change what did take place. However, if we start educating, sharing our views in order to make a change for the next years, I believe we may see some actual positive results. I honestly think the description of this documentary found on the internet might discourage some of you from watching, but let me assure you its narration is way more pragmatic and peaceful. I’m thankful for such productions and always happy to be sharing a word about them with others.
My rating: 7/10
S.
I have nothing to watch 