Interview: Yemi Bamiro and Joanna Boateng on honouring Kwame Brathwaite's legacy in Black Is Beautiful
The filmmakers behind Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story reveal how they brought Kwame Brathwaite’s revolutionary tale to light.
At this year’s BFI London Film Festival, a new documentary titled Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story premiered.
The film celebrates the life and work of the visionary photographer who helped spark the “Black is Beautiful” movement, immortalising the pride, artistry, and resilience of Harlem’s Black community.
Brathwaite was not only a photographer but also a freedom fighter and community organiser.
His portraits of the Grandassa Models, including his wife Sikolo, became defining images of a generation that sought to reclaim beauty on its own terms.
The film moves between personal stories, archival material and contemporary reflections, painting a vivid picture of a man whose artistry shaped culture yet remained largely unrecognised during his lifetime.
I sat down with the film’s director, Yemi Bamiro, and its producer, Joanna Boateng, to talk about how their new documentary honours the legacy of the revolutionary photographer.
When asked how they ensured that Brathwaite received the spotlight he deserved, Bamiro spoke with reverence, saying he “always felt that [Brathwaite] was criminally underappreciated in his life while he was with us”
He added: “It was really important that this film gave him his flowers and connected the dots between the foundations he laid and the contemporary work that exists today.”
The filmmakers developed close relationships with Brathwaite’s family and those who knew him best, often speaking to his son Kwame Jr. throughout the process.
“They were giving us the licence to tell this story, but he wasn’t our father,” Bamiro said. “It wasn’t just about access, it was about respect.”
That sensitivity extended to the way the team handled Brathwaite’s vast archive as Boateng described long sessions spent examining negatives and negotiating with his family on how best to contextualise his work.
Balancing entertainment with factual accuracy is a common challenge in documentary filmmaking, but for Boateng. Brathwaite’s life offered its own “natural rhythm.”
She added: “There was never a moment where it felt like we were straying from something worthy of him.”
While we live in an era where biopics are being made and winning Oscars constantly, the decision to make the project a documentary rather than a narrative feature was clear from the outset.
“There was so much information,” Boateng explained.
“Time was of the essence. These were really important stories that had the potential to slip out of living memory, so it was vital we spoke to everyone as soon as possible.”
The film embraces both the triumphs and the struggles of his journey, showing how one man’s art became a form of activism.
Both filmmakers had moments when the emotional weight of the project truly hit them.
Boateng recalled her first conversation with the Grandassa Models, the women who embodied Brathwaite’s vision of Black beauty in the 1960s, saying, “it felt like history opening itself to us,” she said.
Bamiro’s turning point came during the interview with Brathwaite’s wife, Sikolo, after Boateng ensured she would be comfortable speaking with them.
He explained: “There were things in there we didn’t know. It’s a love story, partly between Kwame and Sokolo. That was when I thought, this is what the film is.”
While Bamiro’s previous film, Astroworld: Concert from Hell, explored a collective tragedy, Black is Beautiful allowed him to focus on one man’s intimate journey.
He explained: “With Kwame, we had time to explore his life in depth, with intricacy and detail. This one was about one man’s legacy and love.”
For Boateng, the heart of the film lies in the meaning of its title.
She explained: “Black is Beautiful, to me, is an acknowledgement that Blackness is about joy. There’s beauty and creativity in Blackness. It’s deep and complex, not just about trauma.”
Through tenderness and truth, Black is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story reclaims the narrative of an artist who made the world see Black beauty differently.
Their film is not just a tribute, but a reminder that history’s forgotten heroes still shape the way we see ourselves, and that celebrating them keeps their vision alive for generations to come.
Through their lens, Brathwaite’s message feels as urgent now as it did six decades ago, echoing in a world still learning to celebrate difference.
Black is Beautiful stands as both remembrance and renewal, a cinematic love letter to Black artistry, resilience and joy.