Lagueria Davis – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WEEK IN WOMEN: Lagueria Davis’ ‘BLACK BARBIE Documentary Lands at Netflix and Shondaland – Brandy McDonnell reports

November 27, 2023November 29, 2023 Brandy McDonnell betsy beers, Black Barbie: A Documentary, greta gerwig, Lagueria Davis, netflox, Shonda Rhimes, Shondaland, the week in women, twiw, week in women

Writer-director Lagueria Davis has found a home for her timely and relevant Black Barbie: A Documentary. Netflix and Shondaland recently announced the acquisition of Davis’ film.Black Barbie. Davis brought her “Black Barbie” to the festival circuit just as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie started generating critical acclaim and record-breaking box-office numbers. Considering Davis spent a dozen years making Black Barbie, and the movie Barbie had been in the works since The LEGO Movie became a 2014 blockbuster, it’s interesting timing that both films debuted within just a few months of each other.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Lagueria Davis hopes BARBIE boosts BLACK BARBIE: A DOCUMENTARY – Brandy McDonnell reports

August 24, 2023September 12, 2023 Brandy McDonnell Black Barbie: A Documentary, greta gerwig, Lagueria Davis, the week in women, Warner Bros.

“If we can get a little of that Barbie love sprinkled onto Black Barbie … and get some people out to see it, they can have a little fun with that movie and then come out and be like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know Black Barbie had a story.’ I didn’t know when I first started the project, so you can be in the know on all things not only ‘Barbie,’ but ‘Black Barbie’ as well,” Davis said during an interview in June.

Festivals Reviews

BLACK BARBIE (SXSW2023) – Review by Leslie Combemale

March 13, 2023March 12, 2023 Leslie Combemale Beulah Mitchell, Black Barbie, documentary, Hayley Marie Norman, Kitty Black Perkins, Lagueria Davis, Mattel, Ruth Handler, Shindana Toy Company, Stacey McBride Irbie, sxsw2023

Though she didn’t really know it as a child, filmmaker Lagueria Davis had the great good fortune of growing up with an aunt, Beulah Mitchell, who was an important part of Barbie history. When Davis moved to LA to follow her dream of becoming a filmmaker, she sometimes stayed with her aunt. It was then she discovered Mitchell was an integral part of bringing Black Barbie into being. Mitchell, who started on the assembly line at Mattel, encouraged Mattel owner Ruth Handler to create a doll that would look more like her.