‘Subjects of Desire’ screening at the 30th Anniversary of Pan African Film Festival – Los Angeles Sentinel | Los Angeles Sentinel 

“Subjects of Desire”, a provocative feature-length documentary written and directed by Jennifer Holness, screened on the 30th anniversary of the Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles last weekend from April 19 to May 1.

Jennifer had to reschedule her 30th wedding anniversary in Greece to attend her screening at the festival, which is how special it was for her. This documentary has premiered at more than 30 film festivals around the world, but being supported by the black community is always a great feeling, she said.

The film covers in great detail the history of feminism in America and how this has affected the competition in beauty contests, especially for black women. The inspiration behind “Subjects of Desire” comes from Jennifer Holness’s three daughters and their struggles embracing their beauty.

Still photo of Indie Arie from a documentary interview (photo courtesy)

She began to notice when her eldest was fifteen that she was fighting with herself. This turned out to be the creation of a documentary to help all three of her daughters understand that the way young black women see themselves has been created by society.

There were parts of African-Canadian history and African-American history that her daughters, along with many young black girls and women, did not know about. Jennifer believed that teaching history would help them get an idea of ​​why it’s harder for black women to learn how to find values ​​in themselves.

She states: “The dominant story is meant to belittle us. I want to challenge the system with my work. I want to reconsider how we see things. I want black women and girls to rethink how they were made to feel this way. “

Jennifer Holness, reacting to her daughters, who are struggling with internal battles, broke her: “I tear myself up when I think about it.” She noticed that her biggest one preferred braids to her natural hair, and she couldn’t get compliments when they were made by her mostly white classmates. The eldest revealed that she did not believe that these compliments were real and tried her best to fit into the mass image of beauty.

When Jennifer was younger, she fought the same internal battles. Born in Jamaica as she moved between Canada and New York, she began to notice that she was black and unwanted. Since she didn’t have fair skin and straight hair, she didn’t fit either on basic standards of beauty. As a passionate reader at a young age, she learned the dangers of white supremacy and began to reject basic dialogue about what beauty is.

Holnes states: “Black culture is so appropriated. Black culture is American culture. Americans have adapted our culture and are trying to own it. “

Jennifer thinks it needs to change to see that celebrities on List A reap the benefits of blackness without even thanking the community that came up with the inspiration and creativity.

Her proposal for this change is for those companies that profit from black artists to invest back in the black community. Taking everything and not getting anything back is not good and needs to change. “It’s very discouraging when so much is appropriated and nothing goes back into the community.”

Learning about the history of beauty pageants and how it hinders the feminist movement is what led to the idea that the pageants be the focal point of the documentary. Jennifer Holness received permission to film the women participating in the 50th anniversary of Miss Black America, and it was there that she received her interviewers for this documentary.

It turned out perfectly, because of the six women he interviewed, three of them won the competition. Indie Arie and Julie Black are the entertaining voices who appeared in the documentary, explaining how they managed to help the average black woman using their platform.

Jennifer insists that “Subjects of Desire” be screened in schools and universities across America. “My film brings together many elements and I think it’s a great way for young black girls and women to understand themselves and how to move in this world.

It is also a great conversation for white girls and women to learn about their privileges. A conversation can begin about what the real allies look like. I think it can be very useful for inner selfishness and external conversation with different communities.