England Premiere BLACK BARBIE: A DOCUMENTARY

USA 2023 - DCP - 99 minutes, in English

Director, Screenplay: Lagueria Davis

Producer: Lagueria Davis, Aaliyah Williams

Print Courtesy: The Film Collective

Just in time to beat the release of the much anticipated Barbie feature film, Black Barbie: A Documentary is exactly what its title implies—the true story of the rise of Black Barbie dolls, an alternative literal model for young Black children. Black Barbie delves into the transformative arrival of Mattel’s groundbreaking Black Barbie to shift the predominantly White and blonde paradigm. By examining the ways that the absence of Black images in the social mirror left Black girls with few opportunities for selfreflection, and in dissecting the complex effects of merchandising and representing, Black Barbie celebrates Black women who refuse to be invisible, and their struggle to elevate their own voices and stories in ways often missed. A central one here is director Lagueria Davis’ 83-year-old aunt, Beulah Mae Mitchell, who worked at Mattel and helped push the then radical idea of marketing a Black Barbie into reality. —KE

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