Film Series
BAMcinématek and The Racial Imaginary Institute: On Whiteness
“If whiteness gains currency by being unnoticed, then what does it mean to notice whiteness?”
—Sara Ahmed
Despite being a powerful social and political force, whiteness has often been treated as a neutral, rather than racialized, identity. Presented in collaboration with Claudia Rankine’s The Racial Imaginary Institute, this series explores how whiteness has been deliberately and subconsciously constructed, ignored, and challenged in the history of American film. In bringing together a diverse array of works that touch on issues of ethnic identity, assimilation, racial grievance, passing, and privilege, On Whiteness aims to foster a dialogue about what it means to be white in America.
Profound critiques of racial mythologies and the limitations of white feminism.
Elia Kazan’s controversial melodrama was an early Hollywood attempt to grapple with racism.
Clint Eastwood’s knotty vision of white America coming to terms with multiculturalism.
Burt Lancaster in an unsettling vision of middle-age, middle-class, white suburban ennui.
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro’s still-shocking portrait of post-Nixon-era white rage.
Sylvester Stallone creates a folk hero for white America in the age of Black Power.
John Hughes’ iconic 80s comedy serves as a foundational text of white male privilege.
The Wayans brothers’ daring, oddball burlesque of early 2000s whiteness deserves a second look.
Steve Martin stars in this commendably risky, comic take on Southern racial mores.
John Cassavetes’ landmark directorial debut comes with a complicated racial legacy.
Quentin Tarantino’s endlessly quotable, instant classic appropriation of “black cool.”
Spike Lee’s saga of murder and social unrest in an Italian-American community.
Sofia Coppola’s languorous, 1970s-set dream vision of teenage melancholy.
Isabelle Huppert stars in Claire Denis’ searing exploration of colonialism’s legacy.
Coppola’s epic immigrant’s tale explores assimilation and what it means to become white.
Jordan Peele’s daringly subversive, instantly iconic satire lays bare the horrors of white liberal hypocrisy.