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"At school, we always learned that technology is neutral, that we can use the camera that records the images without bias, without prejudice, very neutrally. But that isn't the case at all."

Belgian filmmaker An van. Dienderen says this early in Prism. She realized the color cards used as reference to calibrate the camera and the color of images are based on white skin and are not designed for use on subjects with darker skin. Wanting to explore the implications of this for photography and filmmaking and also for society at large, van. Dienderen, who is white, collaborated with two Black filmmakers originally from Africa: Rosine Mbakam, from Cameroon, and Eléonore Yameogo, from Burkina Faso. The discussions the three have, along with short films from each of the directors, make up the content of Prism. (French is used throughout most of the video, with English subtitles.)

The three-way discussion is held over computer, and at one point, the frame featuring Yameogo becomes almost totally dark, obliterating her image. Eventually, the problem is corrected, but it provides a concrete demonstration of the problems those with darker skin can have when their image is being recorded.

A question brought up by van. Dienderen in the discussion was whether the camera was consciously designed to record white skin more faithfully or whether it was more an unconscious outcome. Mbakam thought there was some conscious intent, while Yameogo thought it was unconscious, more a reflection of the view that those who designed the camera thought non-whites would not be interested in telling their stories through the camera.

The differing viewpoints of the Black filmmakers are reflected in their films seen in Prism. Mbakam delves into the philosophical meaning and social ramifications of Blacks not being represented accurately in visual media. She says in her film, "I never had a choice in my representation, my imagination, my history." When she attended film school in Europe, she saw only one film from Africa in the five years she was at the school.

Yameogo's film approaches the issue at a more practical level. She features Tella Kpomahou, a Black African actress working in France. Kpomahou talks about working in television and films and hearing that Black skin poses a special problem to light and how having actors of different skin tones in the same frame poses a major problem when shooting.

Looking for answers, she talks to two Blacks involved in filmmaking, actor-writer-director Sylvestre Amoussou and cinematographer Diarra Sourank. Sourank says the problems people speak about can be overcome with a careful and diligent approach to the lighting. Amoussou says that increases in participation in films by Black actors, directors, and cinematographers will force manufacturers of cameras and film stock to pay more attention to accurate recording of dark skin.

The film by van. Dienderen included in the video is more abstract. She features a talk between two film school students, a white man and mixed-race woman, in which the woman talks about racial classifications in South Africa, and then moves to a studio where a color test scene is done with the students and their different skin tones.

This video is recommended to academic libraries in several subject areas. It's obviously of use in photography and filmmaking classes, but also important for classes in sociology and African American studies for the issues of representation it brings up. Prism reveals an aspect of racial discrimination, whether consciously designed or not, that many whites may not have thought about.

Awards:
World Premiere, New York Film Festival 2021

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