<I>Jojolo</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1966
name: label: Directed by
content: Lebert "Sandy" Bethune, Jamaican American
label: Directed by
content: John Taylor
label: Narrated by
content: Johanne Harrelle, Canadian, 1930 - 1994
label: Subject of
content: Johanne Harrelle, Canadian, 1930 - 1994
label: Edited by
content: Elspeth MacDougall
label: Composed by
content: Eric Dolphy, American, 1928 - 1964
notes: label: Description
content: A short motion picture film with the title "Jojolo." There are two release prints (2018.37.3.1a) and (2018.37.3.3a), both of which are 16mm acetate film with optical sound and a magnetic track (2018.37.3.2a). All are 16mm acetate film
label: Description
content: The film depicts the life of Jojolo (Johanne Harrelle), a young Black woman working as a fashion model in mid-1960s Paris. It opens with Jojolo applying makeup to her face as instrumental jazz music (Fire Waltz by Eric Dolphy) plays in the background. This is accompanied by voiceover narration. The woman states that jojolo is a Yoruba word that means "Look at the pretty girl."
label: Description
content: In the next scene, Jojolo walks out of a Christian Dior store unto the busy Rue François 1er and exclaims although it was named after a 16th century French king, there is nothing majestic about it but its name. She briefly engages in some window-shopping before visiting a water fountain that features numerous statues. She then walks over the Pont Alexandre III bridge, commenting that for her it is the funniest bridge over the Seine, "not even my mask can fit me with it. I think it knows."
label: Description
content: In another scene, Jojolo observes a sculptor making a statue. She states, "Look at the pretty girl. She couldn't work for my boss but then, jojolo for him is not the same for everyone. I live here. I have to work, that is what my mask is for." She continues along her journey, eventually making it to the street on which she lives. She pauses to look at traditional African masks as the narrator states that "They say that home is where one starts from”, and African drumming plays in the background.
label: Description
content: In the final scene, Jojolo looks out from her window unto a procession of umbrellas passing in the street. She sees her neighbor doing the same thing and wonders, "What does she see?" After retiring to her apartment, Jojolo removes her makeup and eyelashes as the narrator states, "My father says, if you sleep in a mask, it sticks to your face. I will never sleep in mine. I want to keep my face. I want to keep my name. Jojolo. Jojolo. Jojolo." The film ends with a shot of her, sans makeup, looking directly into the camera.
place: label: Place filmed
content: Paris, France, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Beauty culture
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Identity
label: Topic
content: Independent films
label: Topic
content: Jazz (Music)
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: Lebert "Sandy" Bethune Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
label: Movement
content: Pan Africanism
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Lebert "Sandy" Bethune
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2018.37.3
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: black-and-white films (visual works)
label: Type
content: short subjects
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Lebert Bethune
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration: 22 min.