Statues Also Die (1953)
Overview
Commissioned by the journal Présence Africaine, this short documentary examines how African art is devalued and alienated through colonial and museum contexts. Beginning with the question of why African works are confined to ethnographic displays while Greek or Egyptian art is celebrated, the film became a landmark of anti-colonial cinema and was banned in France for eight years.
Cast
Jean Négroni
Narrator (voice)
François Mitterrand
Self (archive footage)
Pope Pius XII
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Sugar Ray Robinson
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Ex Libris: The New York Public Library