Vénus noire (2010)
Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche

Film Synopsis

In 1817, before a gathered assembly of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Paris, Georges Cuvier presents a cast of an African woman and remarks that he has never seen a human head so close to that of an ape.  The object of Cuvier's racist observations (which are applauded by all who attend his lecture) is Saartjie Baartman, one of the Khoikhoi people living in southwest Africa.  In 1810, she left her native homeland and travelled to London with her master Caezar, who exhibited her at freak shows on account of her unusually large hind quarters.  Known as the Hottentot Venus, Saartjie became a popular attraction, although she died young, at the age of 26 in 1815.  When Caezar was charged with slavery by the African Institution, it was Saartjie who came to his aid.  Together, they left for Paris, where the unfortunate woman became an object of scientific racism right up until her death...