‘How Can I be Too High in Rank to Dine with the Servants, but Too Low to Dine with My Family?’: Intersectionality and Postfeminism in Amma Asante's Belle

Giving Voice to a Portrait: The Intersection of Gender, Race, and Law in Belle

“…Jessica Taylor, highlighting the fact that the film's 'protagonist, director and screenwriter are Black women,' asserts that it 'marks an important cultural space, intervening in both the dominance of white and male screenwriters and directors in the mainstream film industry, while also providing a depiction of a Black female protagonist in a historical film who is neither a maid nor a slave, and whose concerns, desires and perspectives the audience are positioned to engage and identify with.' 55 The filmmakers set out to create an 'empowering black female character,' 56 and many viewers have embraced the fictionalized Belle as such. This is underlined by some of the educational projects that have been inspired by the film, for example, a book for young readers titled Fern and Kate Meet Dido Elizabeth Belle, and Fern Meets Dido-The Musical, an intergenerational drama project mounted in celebration of Black History Month.…”

Epistemology and Mediation in Historical Film and Television: How the Gendered Past is Constructed in Knowledge and Representation

“…Belle functions as a mediator of contradictions in understanding in culture regarding racial identity and justice. 58 Olufunke Adeboye investigates how the epic story of Efunsetan Aniwura of Ibadan, a powerful nineteenth-century Yoruba iyalode, or female chief, has evolved in various contemporary plays and films, mediating changing attitudes about female power and leadership in Nigerian culture. 59 60 Melodrama is also recognised as an influence in television genres, in serials and series ranging from telenovelas to Japanese asadora to primetime dramas.…”

“…Taylor's discussion showcases how putting women and people of colour at the centre rather than periphery of historical films has the potential to modernise melodrama and yield new perspectives on history. 80 Vannessa Hearman discusses A Guerra da Beatriz/ Beatriz's War' (Luigi Acquisto and Bety Reis, East Timor, 2013), which depicts 'the everyday, grounded experiences' of survival by ordinary Timorese under Indonesian occupation (1975-99), with a particular focus on the female survivors of the 1983 Kraras Massacre. The film, which received substantial backing from the government of East Timor for production, distribution and screenings, centres not only on women and their experiences in the national narrative, but also constructs its protagonist Beatriz as a morally complex and controversial individual.…”