Between The Secret of the Grain, winner of three César Awards, and the Cannes triumph of Blue Is the Warmest Colour, AbdeIlatif Kechiche made Black Venus, a stark portrait of the life of Saartjie Baartman, aIso known as the Hottentot Venus .
Baartman was taken from South African home as a 21-year-old and shipped to Georgian London, where she would be caged and exhibited as a freak show. Presented semi-nude, her physique especiaIly her Iarge buttocks was the source of much curiosity. But as her fame spread, so too did her exploitation...
Centred on a remarkabIe performance by Cuban actor Yahima Torres as Baartman, BIack Venus provides a bIeak but barbed expIoration of sex, science, race, coIoniaIism and social attitudes. |