Abigail Dunagan, Campus Carrier arts and living editor
While “Barbie” was one of the biggest films of 2023, there is more to the story of these popular dolls. This evening, the Rome International Film Festival (RIFF) will be partnering with the Berry College Office of Diversity and Belonging to host a showing of the 2023 documentary “Black Barbie.” This documentary was written and directed by Lagueria Davis, and tells the story of Davis’ own aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell’s experience working for Mattel during the debut of the first Black Barbie doll in 1980. In addition to Mitchell, the film tells the story of two Black women who played vital roles in the production of the doll, Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey Mcbride Irby. Through the story of this doll, the documentary aims to open a conversation about representation for women of color.
Leanne Cook has worked as the Executive Director of RIFF for the past year. After accepting the position, Cook said that she wanted to find ways to revive the film festival scene and help the Rome community. Cook did some research and found that when groups of people come together to watch a film, they will temporarily bond.
“If a film makes you laugh, everybody is laughing at the same places,” Cook said. “If it’s a film that makes you cry, everybody experiences that together.”
People will temporarily connect while watching films together, and Cook found that this phenomenon might help the Rome community open up to conversations about often difficult subjects. To bring this plan into action, Cook won a grant through the National Endowment of the Arts that would send six different films to be shown in the Rome community. The grant would allow the filmmaker to speak at a discussion panel after the show, and this will help viewers to learn more about the film and discuss the topics covered. “Black Barbie” focuses on the lack of representation of Black women in media, and the film aims to encourage viewers to discuss these issues.
“If the film is about racism, you kind of transition into talking about your region and your area, and what the individual speakers on the panel think about it,” Cook said. “Hopefully you will build bridges, and you get to the point where you are able to talk more openly with people and positive things happen.”
Julia McCluskey is the assistant director of programs and strategic initiatives in Berry’s Office of Diversity and Belonging. McCluskey said that the organization plans to host a series of films in Rome and at Berry as part of a series titled “Through a Different Lense.” Each film will focus on a different social issue, and after the showing a panel of Berry students, faculty and individuals knowledgeable on the subject will get to speak and answer audience questions. According to McCluskey, this will be the third film shown as a part of the series.
“It has really been a joint effort between our office and RIFF to bring this to the community,” McCluskey said. “We have worked with community partners and individuals, as well as Berry students, faculty and staff to make this a campus and community wide event.”
McCluskey said that the team reached out to individuals whose input they felt would be valuable to the panel, including local community activist Candice Spivey. This event will focus on the topic of Black female representation, which is a subject that does not often get spoken about. McCluskey wanted to invite speakers who were passionate about this subject, and she believes that the showing of the film will be an eye-opening experience for many viewers.
“I hope that viewers gain an appreciation for the ways that film can bring about really important societal conversations,” McCluskey said. “I hope that they can learn that representation is really important, and that it matters starting at a very young age.”
Cook said that she hopes that this film will impact people by inspiring them to continue in this conversation about representation. While the showing will be hosted on the Berry Campus, it is open to Rome community members.
“Anybody can come,” Cook said. “That’s the most important thing, we are hoping to bring the community together with Berry. We are hoping that happens every time we have a film.”
The screening of “Black Barbie” will take place this evening at 7 p.m. in the Intercultural Center. Tickets can be reserved online at differentlens.eventive.org/welcome.