Subjects of Desire (2021)
- Directed by
- Jennifer Holness
- Country
- Canada
- Rated
- MA 15+
- Rating
- 6.0 of 10 from 1 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
This documentary looks at how beauty standards affect Black women in North America. It starts with the Miss Black America pageant and talks to people about race, identity, and what society calls beautiful.
thoughtfuleducationalreflectiveconversationalsoberanalyticaleye-opening
What happens
Subjects of Desire is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Jennifer Holness and released in 2021. Nominally jumping off from the 50th anniversary of the Miss Black America pageant in 2018, the film is an exploration of the relationship between African-American and Black Canadian society with the broader cultural concept of beauty standards. Figures appearing in the film include India Arie, Jully Black, Rachel Dolezal, Alexandra Germain, Brittany Lee Lewis, Seraiah Nicole, Ryann Richardson, Cheryl Thompson, Carolyn West and Heather Widdows. The film premiered on the online platform of the SXSW festival on March 12, 2021, and had its Canadian premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in April. The film was nominated for the Directors Guild of Canada's DGC Discovery Award in 2021, and was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
The Colour of Beauty (2010)
The Skin We're In (2017)
"Good Hair" and Other Dubious Distinctions (2011)
The Souls of Black Girls (2008)
The North Star: Finding Black Mecca
Sisters in the Struggle (2015)
America the Beautiful (2007)
Mariannes Noires (2016)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.