Pioneers of Black Cinema: Ngozi Onwurah Short Film Program

The British-Nigerian filmmaker Ngozi Onwurah (*1964) made a series of short films between 1988 and 1994 that explore body image, body politics, and the search for one's own identity in an autobiographical way. She fascinatingly juxtaposes these uncomfortable narratives with visual beauty and artistic symbolism. In her graduation film COFFEE COLOURED CHILDREN from Saint Martins College of Art and Design, she describes the racist trauma she and her brother Simon experienced as children in a predominantly white English neighborhood. In THE BODY BEAUTIFUL, she critically examines female beauty ideals and the lack of social acceptance of deviation. FLIGHT OF THE SWAN follows the fictional story of a Nigerian girl studying at a ballet school in England. There, she attempts to play her dream role of Princess Odette from Swan Lake in the form of a "black swan." With WHITE MEN ARE CRACKING UP, Onwurah questions the fetishization of black women from the perspective of white men in the style of a crime story.

Films:

Coffee Colored Children UK 1988 -15 Min.

The Body Beautiful UK 1990 Digital file engl. OF 23 Min.

Flight of the Swan UK 1992 Digital file engl. OF 12 Min.

White Men Are Cracking Up UK 1994 Digital file engl. OV 20 mins.