Synopsis
Filmmaker Medhin Tewolde Serrano was around seven years old when, for the first time, someone shouted “negra” at her in the street. That day, she realized she was Black — and the laughter around her quickly made it clear that this probably wasn’t a good thing… Through the stories of five women of African descent living in Mexico, Negra explores what it means to inhabit the body of a Black woman in a country that often renders their existence invisible. The film exposes the racism they face on a daily basis, while shedding light on their processes of resistance and self-acceptance, the strategies they use to transcend stereotypes, and the celebration of their identity.
A word from Tënk
This film directly addresses the condition of being a woman, a Black woman, and a Black woman in Mexico. Director Medhin Tewolde Serrano starts from her own story to meet with women from different regions of the country. She approaches them with intimacy and sensitivity, exploring how African descent is perceived in a cultural context where dark skin remains marginalized, made invisible, and devalued. Together, they examine the personal narratives and biographical ruptures that shape the internalization of racialization.
One of the film’s strengths lies in its ability to name what still persists in society today: “being Black is something bad.” But the film goes beyond this observation. It interrogates the ideological structures that impose the idea that one must conform to a norm in order to belong to the collective. Then, with both sensitivity and power, it opens a space for these women to reclaim themselves. The film becomes a tool for transformation and resistance—an invitation to turn eroticism, the body, and skin color into sources of power.
“This is for you, for me, for all of us,” says the filmmaker, who dedicates the film to her daughter—as an act of transmission, a hope for a reimagined future. A necessary and moving film, carrying a rare political and intimate force on the still-urgent issue of racism.
Sylvie Lapointe
Filmmaker
