Black masculinities

2024 - ongoing

As a man of Afro-Caribbean descent, born and raised in France, Christophe Boussamba has grown up in a country that doesn't always accept him for who he is. Throughout his life, he has asked himself many questions as a man, as a Black person: Why did an (white) ex-girlfriend only go out with Black men? Why was he almost systematically stopped at the entrance to stores? Why did his father need to assert his authority over him? Why was it so difficult to allow himself to cry?

He then sought to understand to what extent his experience was shared by others, and in what form. He therefore invited Black men to freely share their experiences as Black men in a society with colonial roots. To talk about the impact of the presence (or absence) of their parents — and more specifically, their father — in their upbringing. To talk about their relationships with men and women in a racist world. To recount their emotions and vulnerability.

Black Masculinities is a documentary series that explores the specific experiences of Black men in France. Highlighting both the effects of patriarchy and the very present vestiges of colonization on Afro-Caribbean natives and people of African descent, Christophe Boussamba challenges preconceived notions about this population and offers a much more complex reality through a variety of experiences.