The Life and Times of Sara Baartman

Movie·1998·0h 53m

The Life and Times of Sara Baartman

Directed By

Zola Maseko

Country

South Africa

Language

Afrikaans

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// overview

The Story

In 1810, 20 year old Sara Baartman got on a boat from Cape Town to London, unaware that she would never see her home again, or that she would become the icon of racial inferiority and black female sexuality for the next 100 years. Four years later, she became the object of scientific research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about BFS. She died the next year, but even after her death, Sara remained an object of imperialist scientific investigation. In the name of Science, her sexual organs and brain were preserved and displayed in the Musee de l'Homme in Paris until as recently as 1985. Using historical drawings, cartoons, legal documents, and interviews with noted cultural historians and anthropologists, this documentary deconstructs the social, political, scientific, and philosophical assumptions that transformed one young woman into a representation of savage sexuality and racial inferiority.

Cinematography

Giulio Biccari

Editor

Lise Beaulieu

Themes

anthropologyracismfemale sexuality19th centuryethnographysocial & cultural documentaryscientific researchblack womandocumentary shorthistorical documentary

Production House

France•3
Mail & Guardian Television
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
Dominant 7
PROCIREP
CNC

Audience Score

80%

1 votes

Skip6%
Timepass14%
Go for it36%
Perfection44%

Where to watch

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// cast

Cast

Zola Maseko

Adrian Brown

Hlengiwe Farasani

// crew

Crew

Zola Maseko

Director

Giulio Biccari

Director of Photography

Lise Beaulieu

Lise Beaulieu

Editor

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