Race is a Four Letter Word 2006
Distributed by National Film Board of Canada, 1123 Broadway, Suite 307, New York, NY 10010; 800-542-2164
Produced by Annette Clark
Directed by Sobaz Benjamin
DVD, color, 55 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Multicultural Studies, Canadian Studies, African American Studies, Sociology
Date Entered: 08/17/2007
Reviewed by Martha Kelehan, Binghamton UniversityRace is a Four Letter Word is personal exploration of the role that race plays in identity, in particular, how blackness is constructed in Canada. Writer/director Sobaz Benjamin draws from his own biography to recount his struggle to understand how race is part of his identity.
Benjamin talks with friends living in Canada as they negotiate what it means to be black Canadians. He speaks with Tim Dunn who is phenotypically white but culturally black, artist Camille Turner who “performs” black Canadian identity as “Miss Canadiana,” and sociologist Diane Rutherford who did not find the multicultural society in Halifax that Canada promises immigrants. While the personal stories are very interesting in their own right they do not add up to anything particularly new or insightful in discussions about race and identity.
This film would be of interest to classes on multicultural Canada, blackness, and the sociology of race.
Contains nudity. A teaching guide with discussion questions is available online from the film’s website.
Recommended.
Awards:
- Winner of the National Film Board of Canada’s Reel Diversity Competition.