Statues Also Die
Commissioned by the journal Présence Africaine, this short documentary examines how African art is devalued and alienated through colonial and museum contexts.Beginning with the question of why African works are confined to ethnographic displays while Greek or Egyptian art is celebrated, the film became a landmark of anti-colonial cinema and was banned in France for eight years.
- Director
- Chris Marker
- Signature
- Craft · Tension · Drama
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How Statues Also Die actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
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Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
Commissioned by the journal Présence Africaine, this short documentary examines how African art is devalued and alienated through colonial and museum contexts. Beginning with the question of why African works are confined to ethnographic displays while Greek or Egyptian art is celebrated, the film became a landmark of anti-colonial cinema and was banned in France for eight years.
Where to watch
Streaming
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The numbers
Box Office & Release
- Budget
- —
- Opening weekend
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- Domestic gross
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- International gross
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- Worldwide gross
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- Release date
- May 1, 1953
- Runtime
- 0h 30m
- MPAA rating
- —
- Language
- French
- Country
- France
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
