TIFF Review: Dark GirlsBy Fred Topel
September 2011
Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, ‘Dark Girls‘ is a documentary exploring colorism against dark skinned women. I was not even aware this existed, so I found the film both illuminating and hopeful for a potential solution.
Directors Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry interview professionals in the psychology and history field, and everyday people about their views on dark pigment. The experts provide a historical context and the women put a human face on it.
Women who have been insulted for their skin tone speak in heartbreaking testimonials. Research studies illustrate how little girls are programmed against dark skin at a young age. Historians trace the roots from slavery through Civil Rights to today. Most shocking, people reveal their true colorism on Facebook comments, so you may realize your friends aren’t as progressive as you think they are.
The film is divided into clear segments with topics that build into a full portrait of the complicated issue. The horrors of skin whitening cream are not for the faint of heart. Viola Davis appears in three soundbites at the beginning, in the middle and towards the end. Even in a documentary, Davis can’t not bring the inspiring heart of the movie.
There’s one real outspoken A-hole who hates dark skinned women, and he speaks only for himself. Another man clearly speaks from ignorance. He’s a misguided naïf and can probably be rehabilitated. Fortunately, there are more pro-dark skin men in the movie, including white men in mixed marriages. So that’s encouraging.
Berry and Duke leave in the human touches of the interview. They’re not rigid with the structure of talking heads soundbites, so you see the people on the street joke around and make fun of themselves. They’re not there to be the pundit for a cause, they’re just answering questions and they don’t have all the answers.
At only 70 minutes, the film is short but says it all. Healing solutions are introduced, dealing with forgiveness for past biases and a change of consciousness that would render prejudice irrelevant. The scope of the issue provides plenty of topics to start a discussion amongst audiences, and possibly pave the way for future documentaries to delve into other areas of prejudice.
Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.
