Screening as part of AfroPoP on select PBS stations this month, including NY’s WLIW21 this Sunday, February 19: THAT’S MY FACE/E MINHA CARA
Director Thomas Allen Harris’ complex examination of his family’s and his own sense of identity premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2001. The following year it screened at Sundance and Berlin, claiming an award at the latter, and then was featured at numerous LGBT festivals, including NewFest and Outfest, where it won the Outstanding Documentary Feature award.
Harris brings us on a journey of self-discovery that crosses three continents, three generations and thirty years in this truly epic and exceptionally beautiful personal documentary. While Harris was a child, his mother rejected her African-American Methodist Episcopal church upbringing and embraced Pan-Africanism, eventually migrating her family to Tanzania, East Africa on a quest to find a mythic motherland. Harris learned to love Africa, but, upon returning to the US, was unable to express his newfound understanding in this culture. In search of a sense of home and belonging, Harris traveled to Salvador de Bahia, the African heart and soul of Brazil, where an African spirit tradition, with its fluid sexuality and overt sensuality, was openly celebrated. His documentary incorporates super 8mm film shot by his family over three generations, and features an innovative sound design that uses rap and hip hop strategies of multi-voice sampling.
what (not) to doc 
Great show! For those interested in Afro-center issues, this program brings an interesting twist on the blend of cultures, and how that shape who we are.
Show fantastico! Para aqueles que se interessam em assuntos ligados as nossas origens com Africa, este programa mostra de maneira inovadora como a mistura das culturas forma nossa identidade.