Life and Times of Sara Baartman - The Hottentot Venus, The

  • On l'appelait la Vénus Hottentote
Genre : Historical
Type : Documentary
Original title :
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv, History/society
Year of production : 1998
Format : Mid-length
Running time : 53 (in minutes)
http://dominant7.free.fr/tech15av.swf

When the 20-year-old Sara Baartman got on a ship that was to take her from Cape Town to London in 1810, she could not have known that she would never see her home again. Nor could she have known that she would become the icon of racial inferiority and black female sexuality for the next 100 years.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SARA BAARTMAN is the fascinating story of this Khoi Khoi woman who was taken from South Africa and exhibited as a freak across Britain.
While the image and idea of "The Hottentot Venus" swept through British popular culture, a court battle waged by abolitionists to free her failed.
In 1814 she was taken to France, where she became the object ofscientific research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. She died the next year, but even after her death, Sara Baartman remained an object of imperialist scientific investigation. In the name of Science, her sexual organs and brain were displayed in the Musée de l'Homme in Paris until as recently as 1985.
Using historical drawings, cartoons, legal documents, and interviews with noted historians and anthropologists, the film deconstructs the social, political and scientific assumptions which transformed one young African woman into a representation of savage sexuality and racial inferiority.

"Zola Maseko's elegant and rather beautiful film recounts the life and times of Sara Baartman in clear and acceptable terms, using both contemporary and contemporaneous sources... A telling and quite powerful film. It would be very appropriate for any class in the history of racism or colonial history. And just an hour long, it is perfect for a single classroom showing."-American Historical Review

"An excellent film... I would recommend that it be made a part of the video library of African, African-American and Women's Studies programs. It is valuable for scholarly purposes because the issues of colonialism, racism, enslavement, scientific racism, and beauty standards are covered."-Dr. Miriam Ma'at-Ka-Re Monges, California State University, for H-AfriLitCine

"Poignant, mesmerizing and informative... For teaching purposes [it] is accessible and convincing. Includes bravura performances from expert witnesses in a series of interviews."-Dr. Neil Parsons, University of Botswana for H-SAfrica


FESTIVALS

✮ Best African Documentary, 1999 FESPACO African Film Festival (Ouagadougou Burkina Faso)

✮ Best Documentary, 1999 Milan African Film Festival (Italy)

✮ 2001 African Literature Association Conference Film Festival

✮1 999, 2000 & 2001 African Studies Association Conference Film Festivals

✮ 2000 National Women's Studies Association Conference Film Festival

✮ 2000 American Anthropological Association Conference Film Festival

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

With the support of