Synopsis
Using his trademark assemblage of esoteric costume and visual metaphors, Congolese-Belgian hitmaker and filmmaker Baloji explores the practice of skin lightening in black communities. Euphemistically described as ‘brightening’ or ‘toning’, skin bleaching takes many innocuous forms, such as creams, buffs and soaps to deal with hyperpigmentation, but is more often used by women to emulate Eurocentric beauty standards.
Using his trademark assemblage of esoteric costume and visual metaphors, Congolese-Belgian hitmaker and filmmaker Baloji explores the practice of skin lightening in black communities. Euphemistically described as ‘brightening’ or ‘toning’, skin bleaching takes many innocuous forms, such as creams, buffs and soaps to deal with hyperpigmentation, but is more often used by women to emulate Eurocentric beauty standards.
Full credits
- Section
- Breaking the Chains
- Director
- Baloji
- Choreographer
- Élodie Paul & Windy Pamba
- Production countries
- France
- Production year
- 2019
- Duration
- 5 minutes
- Producer
- Cadence Films
- Website
- https://baloji.com/
You might also like:
downriver Out of Competition
Andrea Boll, 2020, CH, min
A group of people emerges from the water. They try to work against the current of the river and the crowd of people in the city, but surrender to the flow and are washed ashore. Going with the flow or against it, resistance and devotion manifest as a basic instinct. A strategy of survival.
10 Years Junior Company Het Nationale Ballet Out of Competition
Eva Oosterveld, 2024, NL, 15 min
The Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet, nurturing and developing exceptional young talent and shaping the future generation of leading dancers, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. A celebratory documentary about a crucial platform for the development of young and ambitious dancers.
A Revolution of Love Out of Competition
Weyni Mengesha + Lucius Dechausay, 2020, CA, 5 min
A young black woman grapples with the histories of her ancestors and the present-day violence ravaging her community. She begins to imagine what her future looks like through dance.