DDM Speakers: 'Becoming a Black Woman' Screening and Q&A

A screening of Rachel M'Bon's 2022 documentary "Becoming a Black Woman" (Je Suis Noires) will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.

In Switzerland, a country of consensus and neutrality, Swiss black women fight for the recognition of structural racism, deconstructing stereotypes and claiming their dual Swiss and black identity. In this context, Rachel, a Swiss-Congolese journalist, begins her own quest for identity. On her way to emancipation she questions her past and her present and holds up a mirror to her country and her peers.

"Becoming a Black Woman" won a Swiss Film Award and the Prix Artopie at the Festival International du film sur les droits humains in 2023.

50 min. | French with English subtitles

Rachel M'Bon, born in Switzerland to a Congolese father and a Swiss mother, is a journalist and filmmaker. After a federal diploma in communications and studies in journalism, she worked for over 15 years for several Swiss media groups in the society and culture section. In 2018, she launched the Instagram account NOIRES to highlight black and brown women in Switzerland, which would later become the account of her association NWAR (Now we are Rising).

Her first film, “Je suis noires”, co-directed with Juliana Fanjul, premiered at the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) in March 2022, exploring themes of identity and the issue of racism. Its success earned it the Swiss Film Prize in March 2023.

Rachel is a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion, founding NWAR and the Afropea Cultural Center in 2023. In September 2023, she was named one of the 100 personalities of the year by the Swiss newspaper Le Temps, and continues to work on filming and writing new stories about black representation.

This event is a collaboration between the Consulate General of Switzerland and Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Faculty of Design + Dynamic Media.