Black Barbie: A Documentary is heading to Netflix thanks to the streamer and Shondaland’s leading lady Shonda Rhimes. The film directed by Lagueria Davis has landed an overall deal with the streamer with Rhimes and Shondaland’s Betsy Beers attached as executive producers.
A work-in-progress cut of the film debuted earlier this year at SXSW, garnering early critical acclaim, and now, viewers will be able to see the finished product on the streaming platform which also houses Shondaland’s original series such as Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, and Inventing Anna among others.
(Credit: Lovely Day Films/Courtesy Everett Collection; Jason Mendez/Getty Images )
Black Barbie: A Documentary celebrates the transformative impact three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand as people know it. Through these charasmatic insiders’ stories, the documentary serves to tell the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980, examining the importance of representation, and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination.
“Telling Black Barbie’s story has been such a personal journey and it warms my heart to celebrate the legacy of my aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride Irby in our film. We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world,” Davis shared in a statement.
The upcoming documentary film is produced by Just A Rebel’s Aaliyah Williams and Lovely Day Films’ Davis. Meanwhile, Rhimes and Beers serve as executive producers on behalf of Shondaland alongside LinLay Productions’ Grace Lay and Sumalee Montano, Camilla Hall for Lady & Bird Films, Milan Chakraborty, and Jyoti Sarda.
The film’s upcoming release has yet to set a premiere date but comes at the perfect time amid the frenzy surrounding the summer’s blockbuster breakout Barbie, which was directed by Greta Gerwig. Stay tuned for more on Black Barbie: A Documentary as it gears up for its Netflix launch.
Black Barbie: A Documentary, Film Premiere, TBA, Netflix
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