There have been numerous engaging films highlighting visual artists: Vivian Maier. Maybe the film medium particularly shines when displaying particularly vivid still images. Here arrives one more outstanding case, by writer-director Yemi Bamiro, documenting the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, musician and social justice champion who exemplified a unique politico-aesthetic perspective.
Alongside his sibling Elombe, he effectively created the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” during the 1960s by capturing the Grandassa Models in New York: emerging women of color who emerged as the groundbreaking standard for beauty, rejecting traditional beauty standards and the predominant Caucasian model of female beauty.
The Power of Three Words
This powerful statement became a powerful rallying cry, an visionary concise manifesto for change. Simply to assert that people of color possessed beauty emerged as a liberating influence in art, social movements and the arts. The photographer became a key figure in the social justice global Black cause by capturing images of the sports icon prior to his legendary championship fight in 1974.
He became the primary visual documentarian for the band's African tour, and subsequently was named the house photographer for the iconic cultural institution, building an incredible collection of African American artists. Alongside his brother, he was the driving force behind bringing Nelson Mandela to appear in the community.
Personal Journey
Brathwaite's son his namesake shares the personal mission to secure proper recognition for his father's legacy after he was hurtfully overlooked in the prestigious cultural museum, established by the political leader in recent years.
This documentary also recounts the inexpressibly painful genesis of the artist's passion for image making: the disturbing photographs of the lynching martyr, the adolescent civil rights tragic figure whose mourning family member courageously insisted on an public viewing so the violent nature of bigoted brutality might not be concealed.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
In this representation of horror, the visionary encountered a form of anti-epiphany that guided him toward photographs of beauty. His images were eloquent of community pride and frequently not overtly political: he curated a new iconography of strength through which social causes could gather.
The documentary stands as an inspiring record of creative genius that persists in resonate across generations.
