The Myth of the Black Woman is a feature-length documentary that examines the imagery of black women in the media, from the 18th century black slave to Michelle Obama. It is an investigation into how stereotypes originate from slavery and still affect the lives of black women in Quebec. These stereotypes include Jezebel (the seductress, the femme fatale); Mammie (the obese woman, the asexual mother figure) and Sapphire (the angry, ambitious and arrogant black woman). This story will be told by black women on whom stereotypes have a high impact, through interviews with fascinating experts, and through archival footage from centuries past to the present.
Direction
O'Shun centers Black Quebecois voices rarely platformed.
Editing
Jarring archival-to-contemporary cuts expose continuity of harm.
Writing
Expert testimony woven without academic gatekeeping.
Director
Ayana O'Shun
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film's Quebec focus disrupts the common erasure of Canadian anti-Blackness, which often gets obscured by proximity to America's more visible racial violence.
Director Ayana O'Shun deliberately includes Michelle Obama as endpoint not to celebrate 'progress' but to demonstrate how even respectability cannot escape archetype—Obama faced identical Sapphire/Jezebel attacks despite unprecedented decorum.
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