{"id":14967,"date":"2026-08-18T21:44:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/the-documentary-afro-hair\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:02:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:02:38","slug":"the-documentary-afro-hair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/the-documentary-afro-hair\/","title":{"rendered":"The documentary *Afro Hair*"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr>\n<p><iframe id=\"ausha-6o80\" style=\"border: none; width: 100%; height: 220px;\" src=\"https:\/\/player.ausha.co\/?color=%23000000&#038;dark=false&#038;multishow=false&#038;playerId=ausha-6o80&#038;playlist=false&#038;podcastId=E05q4uAG1YZl&#038;showId=qxYJmIJ4O3gr&#038;t=0&#038;v=3\" name=\"Ausha Podcast Player\" height=\"220\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><script src=\"https:\/\/player.ausha.co\/ausha-player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2 data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Becoming a Filmmaker<\/h2>\n<p>Nothing happened by chance for Rachel Kwarteng. A journalism graduate with an initial interest in traditional television, the 30-year-old found herself, upon graduating, facing closed doors at traditional newsrooms. Faced with a lack of responses and repeated rejections, she made a bold decision: <strong>to create her own work and tell her own stories.<\/strong>  <\/p>\n<p>The turning point came in 2018 during her own hair transition. After a bad experience with hair straightening, Rachel began to question the underlying reasons that drive so many Black women to alter the natural state of their hair. <\/p>\n<p>As she delves deeper into sociological, economic, and historical analysis, she realizes that hair straightening is much more than just a cosmetic product: <strong>it is a symptom of societal and political repercussions stemming from colonial history and slavery.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Five years of fighting to bring a socially conscious documentary series to life<\/h2>\n<p>Turning a realization into a widely broadcast documentary series is a real struggle. Between 2019 and 2024, Rachel Kwarteng faced several setbacks: hesitant production companies, broken promises, and deep-seated prejudices on the part of decision-makers, who sometimes felt that the subject was <em>\u201ctoo African\u201d<\/em> or lacked <em>\u201cfamous figures to embody<\/em> it <em>.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>Driven by unwavering determination and convinced that audiences are eager for these stories, Rachel teamed up with producer Jairus Laloi. With the support of the <strong>CNC Talent<\/strong> grant, they produced a powerful pilot. Impressed by the freshness, energy, and rigor of the concept, the <strong>TV5MONDE+<\/strong> streaming platform agreed to co-produce and broadcast the series.  <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cFrench TV networks are often thinking for their audience. In 2024, the Nappy movement had been around for 20 years in France, and there still wasn\u2019t a documentary series on a national network dedicated to this story. We needed to tell this story.\u201d \u2014 <strong>Rachel Kwarteng<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>19 exceptional votes and an unprecedented political achievement<\/h2>\n<p>Set to air in April 2024, the documentary series <em>*Cheveux Afro*<\/em> consists of five episodes ranging from 10 to 13 minutes in length. The decidedly modern format blends archival footage, vibrant scenes from everyday life, and poignant interviews. <\/p>\n<p>Rachel Kwarteng brings together <strong>19 Black and mixed-race women<\/strong>, offering a free and diverse voice. The lineup includes public figures (influencer Diddy Stone, designer A\u00efss\u00e9 Ndiaye, and Clarisse Lib\u00e8ne, founder of Nappy de France) with leading experts, such as the Martinican sociologist <strong>Juliette Smeralda<\/strong>, author of the seminal work <em>*Peau noire, cheveu cr\u00e9pu<\/em>*. <\/p>\n<p>The moment of recognition came in June 2024. Just a few weeks after the National Assembly\u2019s historic passage of the bill to recognize and penalize hair discrimination (sponsored by Representative Olivier Serva), <em>\u201cCheveux Afro\u201d<\/em> was screened right in the heart of the Palais Bourbon. <\/p>\n<p>This political and cultural clash demonstrates the power of the documentary as a tool for social change and for raising awareness among public policymakers.<\/p>\n<h2>Providing a platform for new narratives<\/h2>\n<p>This fascinating interview illustrates the mission<em>of Africa Fashion Tour<\/em>. As <strong>the first French-language podcast dedicated to African fashion and the cultural and creative industries<\/strong>, the platform hosted by Ramata Diallo goes beyond simplistic representations of wax print or the traditional boubou. <\/p>\n<p>By giving a voice to content creators, designers, historians, and filmmakers such as Rachel Kwarteng, <em>Africa Fashion Tour<\/em> establishes itself as <a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/category\/podcast-en\/\">a strategic platform for archiving<\/a>, analyzing the industry, and promoting African <em>soft power<\/em> and its diasporas.<\/p>\n<p>While Rachel Kwarteng is already preparing future projects exploring issues related to hair (particularly the topic of wigs and prospects on the African continent), this episode serves as a reminder that reclaiming narratives is the first step toward cultural sovereignty.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Read also<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/black-skins-a-documentary-series-you-wont-want-to-miss\/\">&#8220;Black Skins,&#8221; a documentary series you won&#8217;t want to miss<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/rabi-taabara-yansane-co-director-of-the-documentary-african-styles\/\">Rabi Taabara Yansan\u00e9, co-director of the documentary African Styles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/culture-pagne-the-documentary-series-on-african-fabrics\/\">Culture Pagne, the documentary series on African fabrics<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Through her documentary series *Cheveux Afro*, which airs on TV5MONDE+ and was screened at the National Assembly, Rachel Kwarteng deconstructs stereotypes about hair and restores dignity to the identities of people of African descent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-news","category-podcast-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14967"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14972,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14967\/revisions\/14972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africafashiontour.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}