The most striking thing about the autobiographical documentary ‘Beba’, apart from the intimate lens and stunning cinematography, are the moments of vulnerability, which plunge the viewer into the family and personal traumas of the Afro-Latin filmmaker, including heated discussions with her mother and her white friends.
Written, directed and produced by Rebeca Huntt, the film follows her family’s migration to New York City, through her years at Bard College in the state, and then her move back to her parents’ home in Central Park West.
“Beba,” which refers to Huntt’s childhood nickname, is not a glossed over story of immigrant redemption. Through poetry, narration — voiced by writers such as James Baldwin and Audre Lorde — and interviews with family and friends, Huntt, the daughter of a black Dominican father and a Venezuelan mother, reconciles painful parts of her family and social history. each other, her own identity from the remains of her trauma. “Each of us inherits the curses of our ancestors,” Huntt says. A focus is on her adversarial relationship with her mother and the tension that unfolds between them on and off camera. Huntt also questions her relationships with white friends amid mounting racial and political tensions.
Underexposed is the dynamics with and between the men in the family. Huntt’s father, who seems to be an idealized figure, is interviewed, but shuns difficult questions. You get the feeling that he’s off the job, perhaps because Huntt’s relationship with her mother takes up so much space. Although Huntt’s brother is a big part of the story, the two are estranged and his absence from the film is palpable. Yet “Beba” is profound. The filmmaker delves into all that she is, including darker or more destructive aspects of her identity, forcing viewers to see Huntt’s complexity – and perhaps their own.
beba
Rated R for language. Running time: 1 hour 19 minutes. In theatres.
