Negra
A film by Medhin Tewolde Serrano
Mexico, 2020
Documentary/Afro-Latinas
72 min, Color
Spanish, English subtitles
I was about seven years old the first time someone called me “black” on the street. I turned around to see who they were talking to, until I realized it was me. That day I understood I was black, and the laughter it caused among the people nearby made me think being a black person wasn’t that great… Was this only happening to me? Or did it happen to other black women? Negra is the story of the director’s search for what it means to be a black woman in Mexico. It tells the story of five afro-descendant women from southern Mexico, exposing racism, resistance and processes of self-acceptance, strategies for transcending stereotypes, and the celebration of their identity.
Texas Premiere
Director’s Bio
Medhin Tewolde Serrano is Eritrean-Mexican woman originally from Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, who has lived in Chiapas for over 10 years. After her training in documentary film making, she became concerned with telling the stories of Others. She has dedicated herself to accompanying participatory video processes and community communication in Spain, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. Her accompaniment of these processes revealed her own process of constructing identity as an Afro-descendant woman, which motivated her to create a documentary that speaks to the significance and implication of being a Black woman in Mexico.
Credits
Producer: Terra Nostra Films, Ambulante
Production Companies: Terra Nostra Films, Ambulante
Screenwriter: Medhin Tewolde Serrano
Cinematographer: Juan Antonio Méndez Rodríguez
Editor: Nicolás Défossé
Sound Design: Martin de Torcy
Principal Cast: Elena Martínez, Geidy Mena, Mónica Morales, Asucena López, Medhin Tewolde