In the inaugural episode of the CinéTalk podcast, I discuss technological racism in film. Enjoy listening!
Transcript:
Hello and welcome to CinéTalk, a podcast for and by film lovers about social and cultural topics in film and television. I’m Keva Elie, and today’s episode is about technological racism in film production.
At the 2026 BAFTA Awards, an advocate for Tourette syndrome, a disability that causes people to make involuntary actions or sounds, which are called tics, shouted the N word at Sinners, actor[s] Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo during their speeches. Despite his apology to both the actors and the public, the BBC made an inadequate response to the issue, neglecting to pull the video from airing as it occurred. This event was just one example of the hundreds of ways institutions in film respond to issues regarding Black identity improperly. Racism and lack of regard for Black people in the film industry don’t stop at poor decisions like this. Rather, they are ingrained in the history and system of filmmaking, including technology and implicit bias in learning about filmmaking.
For most of history, Black actors and accurate representation were considered secondary elements in film production. Film sets typically didn’t consider the different lighting techniques necessary for properly lighting a Black actor than [those] needed for a White actor. Light meters in cameras and the chemistry in film had specifically been produced and calibrated with solely capturing White people in mind. Photo labs used Shirley cards produced by Kodak in the 70s to calibrate the colors to a model with perfect skin and colors, a White woman. Models like these weren’t discarded until they inconvenienced furniture companies that found the browns of their furniture to be inaccurate. It wasn’t until movies like In the Heat of the Night, directed by Norman Jewison, that film companies and productions began to cater to Black people and darker skin tones. According to Mark Harris’ Pictures at a Revolution, In the Heat of the Night was one of the first movies “lit with proper consideration for a Black person.”
For example, in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel, who plays Mammy, was lit with what many find improper lighting. Gone with the Wind was filmed in full Technicolor, an outdated process that requires high levels of lighting that often don’t compensate for dark skin.
In an NPR interview, photographer Syreeta McFadden explained, “A lot of the design of film and motion technology was conceived with the idea of the best representation of white people… So color film in its early stages pretty much developed around trying to measure the image against white skin.”
While teaching a course at MetFilm School, Akinsehinwa recounts, “[Actors] were frustrated by the way they were being lit, which often failed to represent their true likeness and made them feel neglected.” He continues, “There is a mental well-being impact to consider. Most actors and actresses desire to look good on screen.”
Ava Berkofsky said in a phone interview with Mic [Magazine] that when she was in film school, no one ever talked about lighting nonwhite people. Berkofsky worked on Insecure, the 2016 show that featured an all-black cast with comedian Issa Rae as the main character. Berkofsky uses whiteboards with special led’s inside to reflect on the actor’s skin rather than “light it” as well as a light dab of shiny makeup.
Additionally, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman of black ancestry to receive the best cinematography award at the 2026 Oscars for Sinners, stated that overlighting Black characters is a common piece of advice in the cinematography world.
In productions like Moonlight and Insecure, colored lights are used as often as possible to create a nice, creative look. For context, Moonlight was created in 2016 by Barry Jenkins, which follows a boy in Miami over three different periods in his lifetime, dealing with his sexuality and identity. Interestingly, the name for Moonlight before it was adapted for film was ‘[In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.]’ This idea was taken very literally during production, with many of the scenes incorporating blue hues that, in fact, [brought] out some of the cool undertones in some of the actors’ skin. For shots like these, cinematographers often use gels in front of the lights to create a pop of color against the actor’s face.
Advancements and improvements in digital cinematography have allowed for capturing both shadows and highlights with greater detail and accuracy than film has previously. LEDs and smaller light sources help prevent overexposure, making it easier to preserve clarity and sharpness in both dark and bright areas of each scene. In the future, [improving] technological racism will include ongoing discussions of the history of film technology and opportunities for cinematographers like Arkapaw and Berkofsky to continue illuminating darker skin tones.
That’s all for this episode of CinéTalk, and thank you so much for joining me as I explored technological racism in filmmaking. Feel free to check out moviesinmotion.org to view the transcript for today’s podcast.
