THE FILM SET IN LAGOS FOCUSES ON COLOuRISM AND SKIN BLEACHING FROM A UNIQUE AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE.

Directed by Daniel Etim Effiong, the documentary Skin, features Nollywood actress Beverly Naya on a journey to unpack the concept of colourism in her hometown of Lagos, Nigeria.

In the film, the London-raised actress approaches the heavy topic from a first person perspective, allowing the audience to interact with colourism through her experience. Initially opposed to being in the film herself, Naya is stripped down and vulnerable, sharing parts of her identity that she often has to tuck away when playing characters for work.

The other women that Naya interviews as she travels through Nigeria are raw, candid, and open as well. And the topic of skin bleaching becomes a prevalent thread in the story. A constant that cannot be ignored is that almost all of the women discuss skin bleaching as something that is done for the affection of men – we often categorise colourism as a remnant of slavery, part of the European ideal of beauty placed on Black people by others.

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Image courtesy of BEVERLY NAYA