Many of Colorism Healing’s readers are movie fans, and several have even been looking for movies and films about colorism in particular. While the documentary Dark Girls is widely known among those interested in colorism, there are other notable movies and films that address this issue. However, after searching around online, I realized it wasn’t exactly the easiest task to locate all of them. There weren’t any sites with a basic list of colorism films that readers could browse. So I created this for you.
If you’re looking for a speaker or facilitator for your next colorism event, learn about Dr. Sarah Webb’s colorism keynotes and workshops.
Movies, Films, and Documentaries about Colorism
Listed in chronological order.
A Question of Color (1993)
Said to be the first documentary to address colorism, this film focuses specifically on African Americans. It traces the roots of colorism back to American slavery, examines gender differences, features news media and rap music, and touches on a range of issues including beauty, employment, marriage, and friendship.
- Genre: Documentary (56 minutes)
- Producer/Director: Kathe Sandler
- Executive Producer: St. Clair Bourne
- Co-Writer: Luke Harris
- Region: United States
A Darker Side of Fair (2004)
This film addresses global diversity by focusing on a “fairness fetish” within modern Indian society. Viewers will see the origins of the fair-skinned ideal in ancient Indian culture, modern forces that perpetuate the “business” of fair skin, growing trends related to gender, and various cultural spheres affected by this issue such as marriage and entertainment.
- Genre: Short Documentary (25 minutes)
- Producer/Director: Leslie Deepak
- Region: India
A Girl Like Me (2005)
Growing out of a high school English literature project, this film features interviews with a number of teenage girls and a reproduction of the infamous “doll test.” The film presents various voices on a range of issues related to colorism, including hair, history, beauty, personal growth, style and fashion, and self-love.
- Genre: Short Documentary (13 minutes)
- Producer/Director: Kiri Davis
- Region: United States
ABC News 20/20 Colorism (2005)
This news segment features an experiment to determine if participants would rank people’s intelligence according to how dark or light the person appeared in a photograph. It also includes interviews from a number of actors who’ve experienced type-casting based on being dark-skinned or light-skinned.
- Genre: News Segment (13 minutes)
- Producer: ABC News
- Region: United States
Skin (2008)
Based on a true story, this drama and romance follows the life of a colored woman born to white South African parents. The movie depicts her fight to cope with other people’s reactions to her appearance as well as her struggle to choose between life with her family or the man she loves.
- Genre: Drama, Romance (107 minutes)
- Director: Anthony Fabian
- Writers: Helen Crawly, Jessie Keyt
- Stars: Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill, Alice Krige
- Region: South Africa
The Skin Quilt Project (2010)
This film explores the issue colorism among African Americans through the voices of a community of quilters. Their stories speak of the significance of the quilting tradition in connecting community and remembering heritage.
- Genre: Documentary (88 minutes)
- Producer/Director: Lauren Cross
Shadeism (2010)
This film focuses on the issue of skin color bias among women in the African, Caribbean, and South Asian diasporas. Taking a look at historical origins and contemporary effects with an eye toward change, this film is a good introduction to colorism as a global issue.
- Genre: Short Documentary (20 minutes)
- Director/Executive Producer: Nayani Thiyagarajah
- Producers: Kate Fraser, Camaro West, Kikhil D’Souza, Vanessa Rodrigues, Muna Ali, Jill Andrew, Rakhi Mutta, Amrit Singh, Khadra Ali
- Animator: Jazzmen Lee-Johnson
- Region: Canada
“Good Hair” and other Dubious Distinctions (2011)
Debose enters the colorism conversation through the all too common notion of “good hair.” Framed with the thoughts of a pregnant mother, the documentary weaves in various perspectives on black hair politics and what it means in the scheme of colorism.
- Genre: Short Documentary (34 minutes)
- Director/Writer/Producer: C. S. DeBose
Dark Girls (2011)
A documentary exploring colorism, it’s origins and contemporary manifestations, with a specific focus on how it impacts many dark-skinned girls and women.
- Genre: Documentary (71 minutes)
- Producers/Directors: Bill Duke, D. Channsin Berry
- Region: United States
Negro: A Docu-series about Latino Identity (2012)
Negro explores the “color complex” (colorism) among Latinos through a number of interviews. Discussions include a range of relevant concerns including history, colonization, racism, diaspora, and personal identity. The film tries to convey the fact that Latinos are diverse, and the series takes viewers to various locations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Genre: Documentary Series
- Producer/Director: Dash Harris
- Region: United States, Latin America
Fair? (2012)
This film explores modern India’s obsession with fair skin through several interviews with actors, beauticians, children, housewives, and more. The purpose of the film is to uncover the meaning of fair skin and the kinds of social capital it affords in India today.
- Genre: Short Documentary (22 minutes)
- Director: Vishnupriya (Dia) Das
- Region: India
Yellow Fever (2012)
Yellow Fever is an international, award-winning film by Ng’endo Mukii. This short film is a mixed media work of art. It’s unique in that it zooms in (sometimes literally) on the unsettling emotional and psychological experience of internalized white supremacy.
- Genre: Short Film (7 minutes)
- Producer/Director: Ng’endo Mukii
- Region: Kenya
Imagine a Future (2013)
This film, which debuted on BET, chronicles one dark-skinned girl’s journey from hurt to healing. Along with Janet’s story, viewers get to see and hear various black women, including some celebrities, discuss the issues of beauty and self-love as it pertains to black women. The film includes segments on Black Girls Rock and an ancestral and personal discovery in South Africa.
- Genre: Documentary
- Producer/Director: Lisa Cortés
- Director: Shola Lynch
- Region: United States
Shadeism: Digging Deeper (2015) See #7 above.
Skinned (2015)
This movie depicts the journey of a woman who once severely bleached her skin in order to attract a guy. A decade later, her life is completely changed, but the past still haunts her physically and emotionally. With the help of a psychiatrist, she embarks on her personal journey toward healing.
- Genre: Drama, Romance (88 minutes)
- Directors: LisaRaye McCoy, Avery O. Williams
- Writers: Clarice Kulah, Sharon Tomlinson, Avery O. Williams, Lotten Yeaney
- Stars: LisaRaye McCoy, Jasmine Burke, Brad James
- Region: United States
Charcoal (2017)
The parallel stories of two black women faced with the social message that their darker complexion makes them less worthy of love, acceptance and respect.
- Genre: Short Film (5 minutes)
- Director: Francesca Andre
- Writer: Francesca Andre
- Stars: Lorry Francois, Chengusoyane Kargbo, Heather Smith
No Shade (2018)
Jade, a successful freelance photographer is hopelessly in love with her best friend of 10 years, bar manager Danny. She discovers through several challenging encounters both personally and professionally that the one thing keeping them from happy ever after is her inherent beauty – her complexion and skin tone. Her shade.
- Genre: Drama, Romance (104 minutes)
- Director: Clare Anyiam-Osigwe
- Writer: Clare Anyiam-Osigwe
- Stars: Zephryn Taitte, Adesuwa Oni, Shone Romulus
Skin (2019)
Skin is a documentary about exploring through the meaning of beauty in all the different shades of black. Set in Lagos, Nollywood actress Beverly Naya goes on a journey to learn about contrasting perceptions of beauty by meeting individuals who have dealt with the pressure to conform to certain standards of beauty and how colorism continues to shape the face of the entertainment industry in Africa
- Genre: Documentary (76 minutes)
- Director: Daniel Effiong
- Writer: Beverly Naya
- Region: Nigeria
Sunflower (2023)
“Sunflower tells the story of high school student Amari Stevens, who struggles to embrace her dark brown skin color in a society where fair and light-skinned women are considered the standard of beauty. When Amari is rejected by her crush Cameron Jones for her lighter-skinned friend Kiara Williams, she turns to skin bleach cream in an attempt to change her outer appearance.”
- Genre: Short Film
- Director: Elizabeth Tawose