TONI MORRISON - BLACK MATTER(S)

The first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993, Toni Morrison is a figurehead in contemporary African-American literature who passed away in 2019, after a lifetime spent denouncing oppression, injustice and racist violence at the heart of American society. 

Born in the 1930s, and a descendant of slaves, Morrison grew up in a country deeply marked by segregation. For almost 50 years, being in turns a critic, editor, educator and creative author, she claimed the invention of black writing and brought light on what was kept silenced, forgotten and denied: the history of Black Americans. Published in 1987, her fifth novel Beloved caused a strong shock in the cultural landscape. It was the first time a Black female writer dared to speak out about a repressed subject that is yet central to US history: slavery and the experiences of enslaved people. 

By weaving together excerpts from Morrison's interviews, testimonials from avid readers (themselves writers, artists, activists or historians), personal archives and images of the struggles waged by African-Americans to win their rights, this documentary explores the resonance of a literary work that remains oh so powerful.