2009 AFI Dallas Film Festival - Skin

(UK, South Africa, 2008, 107 mins)
In English, Zulu with English subtitles
35mm
Directed By: Anthony Fabian

Spanning 30 years in the history of South Africa, this story follows the life of Sandra Laing (Sophie Okenodo), a young woman who, despite being born to a white Afrikaner parents, has light brown skin and curly hair.

From a white African family but possessing of black African physical features, Sandra defies the classifications that served as the foundation of South Africa’s systemic racism. It is not until she is thrown out of the same all-white boarding school that reality sets in: Sandra will not have the same opportunities as everyone else in her family. Sandra’s parents set out to have her legally classified as “white” in 1960s apartheid-era South Africa, setting in motion a legal battle that marks Sandra with the strength and self-awareness that ultimately enables her to embrace her identity and cultural legacy as an African woman.

Information from the festival's website