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Title: Frantz Fanon: Black skin, white mask Reference: Director, Isaac Julien; A Normal Films
production for the BBC & the Arts Council of England. Abstract: Biography of Frantz Fanon, one of the influential theorists of the anti-colonial movements of the 20th century. Weaves together interviews with family and friends, documentary footage and dramatizations of crucial moments in Fanon’s life. Follows him from birth in Martinique through medical training in France, where he wrote “Black skin, white mask” on the depersonalizing influence of colonialism. Documents his work at a psychiatric hospital in Algeria and his involvement in the struggle for Algerian liberation, during which time he wrote the influential “Wretched of the earth.” Library of Congress subjects: Reviews and Numerical Ratings
(2.5) This video basically weaves together interviews with family members and friends, readings from Fanon’s work, dramatizations of important periods in his life, and documentary footage. All this brought to life the roots of Fanon’s legacy. The fact that they made the video more personal allowed me to connect, in a sense, to his story. Although the events that the film captures are a part of our history, I feel that the issues of identity, racism, and recognition that Fanon talks about are still current. It would be very interesting for students to address these issues in ways that currently relate to their lives. I thought that was very good. Overall, though, I don’t feel that the delivery of the information was engaging at all. The video makers could have done a lot more. Fanon’s words in Black Skin, White Mask are so powerful: I don’t feel this video did them justice. The dramatization brought to life his story and his history, but not engagingly at all. Maybe if it had seemed more real? It was just boring, weird, and unreal. He was just sort of in the background. I couldn’t connect to it; I don’t know what I would recommend they do to fix it; I just didn’t like it. Marsha McQueen (undergraduate) (2) An uncompromising aesthetic and the absence of background material (on WWII and decolonization) make this a tough video to appreciate, but at 14 minutes in I felt I was getting somewhere. Not for 1st year students! Fanon emerges as a complex figure whose conceptualization of racism has contemporary relevance, while his conceptualization of gender is deeply conservative. Experts, including Stuart Hall, have many interesting things to say about this, though I’m disgruntled that quite a bit of the French doesn’t make it into the subtitles. Kathy Bischoping (2) This film uses a combination of historical documentation, expert opinion and familial experiences to review both the life and work of Franz Fanon. By locating Fanon in a particular time and place this film is able to accurately capture the complicated life of Fanon and the meaning of his work. However, this film has a weird artistic dynamic to it that I suspect will switch off or distract the attention of students. Sarah Newman (2.5) [Review still to come.] Philip Steiner
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