Screening

About A Question of Color

A Question of Color weaves together interviews with Black Americans of every complexion to explore colorism in the 1980s and early 1990s. Director Kathe Sandler also narrates the film, providing historical context, personal anecdotes, and sharing critical perspectives about colorism. The documentary originally premiered at the 1993 Berlin International Film Festival, and the new 4K restoration was created from the original negative, which Sandler donated to the Black Film Center & Archive (BFCA) in 2010 and 2018. IndieCollect completed the restoration with funding from the HFPA Trust and donations contributed to the Jane Fonda Fund for Women Directors. [58 min; documentary; English]

A Q&A with filmmaker Kathe Sandler and Black Film Center & Archive Director Dr. Novotny Lawrence will follow the screening. 

Kathe Sandler is an award-winning independent filmmaker, educator, and scholar of Black feminist cultural studies. In 2021, she completed her PhD in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Rutgers University and she is the president of Film Two Productions. For her film work, she has received a 1996 Guggenheim fellowship and awards from the National Black Programming Consortium and the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Sandler also directed the documentary Remembering Thelma (1982), a profile of dancer Thelma Hill (1924-1977).

"Remarkably even-handed and free of rhetoric. Its sensible, positive messages about self-acceptance in the face of racism resonate strongly." —The New York Times  

"Certain to spark conversation and controversy." —New York Daily News  

"A free-flowing conversation within the extended family that is black America. Sandler’s tone, by itself, can begin healing the wounds it uncovers." — Newsday

Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.

Images courtesy of IndieCollect