ABOUT THE FILM

LOGLINE

Black Barbie celebrates the momentous impact three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand as we know it. Through these charismatic insiders’ stories, the documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980, examining the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination.

LONG SYNOPSIS

Love her or hate her, almost everyone has a Barbie story. For filmmaker Lagueria Davis, it all started with her 83-year old Aunt Beulah Mae and a seemingly simple question, “Why not make a Barbie that looks like me?”

BLACK BARBIE is a personal exploration that tells a richly archival, thought-provoking story that gives voice to the insights and experiences of Beulah Mae Mitchell, who spent 45 years working at Mattel.

Upon Mattel’s 1980 release of Black Barbie, the film turns to the intergenerational impact the doll had. Discussing how the absence of black images in the “social mirror” left Black girls with little other than White subjects for self-reflection and self-projection. Beulah Mae Mitchell and other Black women in the film talk about their own, complex, varied experience of not seeing themselves represented, and how Black Barbie’s transformative arrival affected them personally.

Writer & Director Lagueria Davis

Producers Aaliyah Williams, Lagueria Davis

Executive Producers Grace Lay, Sumalee Montano, Camilla Hall, Milan Chakraborty, Jyoti Sarda

Associate Producer Brianne Klugiewicz

Editor Heidi Zimmerman

Cinematographer Sara Garth

Music Esin Aydingoz

Cast Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, Stacey McBride-Irby, Ashley Blaine-Featherson Jenkins, Gabourey Sidibe, Julissa Calderon

FESTIVALS
2023: SXSW (World Premiere)

AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
Now available on Netflix