The documentary focuses on Joséphine Baker's life and work from a black perspective and presents the artist both as a mirror of European colonial fantasies and as a symbol of the worldwide black consciousness movement of the 20th century.
Pioneers of black dance, such as Geoffrey Holder, > Arthur Mitchell, Carmen de Lavallade, Maurice Hines and Elsa Wolliaston, recall their stage appearances and encounters with Baker; biographers and historians comment on well-known and unknown footage and photographies. Clichés that have persisted to this day are decontructed and the underlying facts are set in a new historical context.
Joséphine Baker was the first black diva who thought and acted in global dimensions. She became a star in Europe and a world-wide symbol of peace and a better understanding among nations and different cultures.
> Filmfest zum 100. Geburtstag von Joséphine Baker
> Golden Gate Award 2007, San Francisco
in der Kategorie TV documentary short
> Rezension: „Qualität im Verzicht“, PDF
> Village Voice New York, 2007
> Eröffnungsfilm auf dem Londoner “Dance on Screen” Festival, 2007
> Begleitprogramm zur Ausstellung „Black Paris“
im Iwalewa Haus Bayreuth, 2006
> Africultures
Further Reading
Phyllis Rose:
Jazz Cleopatra. Josephine Baker in Her Time
Doubleday, New York
ISBN: 0-385-24891-1
