Impact Days Catalogue
By Juliana Fanjul and Rachel M’Bon

Je suis Noires

Becoming a Black Woman

June 2020. Crowds take to the streets of Geneva, Zurich and Lausanne to denounce systemic racism: an unprecedented occurrence in Switzerland, a country that continues to deny any association with slavery and colonial power. Touched by this sudden outpouring of solidarity, Rachel M’Bon, a mixed-race Swiss journalist accompanied by filmmaker Juliana Fanjul, sets out to meet women who speak of their quest for identity in a country apparently so tolerant.

Sections : Competition - Creative Documentaries, Films en VOD, Films en VOD, Programme Pédagogique
Country : Switzerland
Original languages : French, English, German
Subtitles : English, French
Directors
Juliana Fanjul (Mexico)
Rachel M’Bon (Switzerland)
Producers
Palmyre Badinier (France)
Akka Films
Photography
Leandro Monti
Editing
Claudio Hughes
Music
Thomas Grandjean
Sound
Vuk Vukanović
Rights holder
Akka Films (Switzerland)
Duration
52’
Completion
2022
Impact Statement
Through the personal questioning of Rachel, we want to empower her peers to develop their own narratives to be free to define themselves. The film seeks to encourage recognition, exchanges, and demands equality. We also consider it important to allow people spared from racism and discrimination to put themselves, almost literally, in the shoes of a black woman in Switzerland and to discover different life paths impacted by racism. As Switzerland is a multicoloured and plurilingual country, we also want to connect to similar movements in our neighbouring countries. We have talked a lot; now, words must turn into actions. We want to promote citizen actions that have an impact on politics. We want nothing less than new paradigms, a societal awakening.

This film should raise awareness of systemic racism in Switzerland and enable the new generation of black girls to define themselves and have the same opportunities as white girls.
Impact Goals
  1. Prevent racism in Swiss schools.
  2. Empower the self-esteem of ethnicized people & encourage a civic movement with #jesuisnoires.
  3. Strengthen the exchange in the black community.
  4. Show and fight the existence of racism in Switzerland & transform the narrative of Switzerland into a multi-coloured country.
  5. Change the Swiss anti-racism law to become more effective.
Impact Strategy
  • Raise awareness for new generations to diversity and promote inclusive course material.
  • Create an educational kit for screenings and debates in schools, universities, associations.
  • Create interactive devices like an interactive website, cooperate with existing initiatives to promote #jesuisnoires.
  • Collect testimonies and empower auto-portraits via a Photobooth.
  • Organize film screenings followed by debate and exchange together with associations, NGOs.
  • Propose “experiences” for the screening public to put themselves in another person’s shoes: looking into a mirror deconstructing the view of oneself and others, hearing daily microaggressions.
  • Art photography workshops for ethnized people designed to work on changing their self-perception.
  • Cooperate with philanthropic institutions, foundations, influencers to promote the common goals and amplify the messages.
  • Seek partnerships with corporations and private sponsors to nuance the perception and propose to treat darker skin appropriately.
  • Cooperate with policymakers, politicians and activists and collect signatures to obtain a legal change.
Contact
Primary contact
Rachel M’Bon (Switzerland): rachell.mbon@gmail.com
Participants present at the Impact Days
Rachel M’Bon (Switzerland)
Gudula Meinzolt (Germany)