*MINOR SPOILERS*
On first viewing, this stands out as yet another excellent (mostly) offering in the latest wave of American documentaries. Harris' attempts at solving the riddles of identity (personal identity, and how that identity fits into a greater community) are - in THAT'S MY FACE traced back to a childhood in the Bronx; a childhood enhanced or haunted by spiritual visions, conflicting ideas on the place of Christianity in an African-American family, and a father's view of Africa as an idealized homeland.
Harris' reality is suddenly transformed when his mother accepts a teaching job in Tanzania (again - as with his Bronx childhood - documented with carefully restored super-8 footage), and the family is exposed to African customs both inspiring, and quite different from those a Black American would be accustomed to.
Harris returns to the US, and finished Harvard, with the intent of attending med school. He instead opts to explore his still-evolving interest in pan-African spirituality by making another trip - this one a more exploratory trip to black communities in the Northeastern region of Brazil. In explorations of ritual, Harris eventually begins to connect the pieces of family history, identity and spirituality, cryptic though it all remains (he's told rather bluntly at one point in Brazil that 'black Americans coming here are searching for something that doesn't exist anymore,' a tragic-but-true observation with profound psychological resonance).
Harris is a little too ethereal for his own good through much of THAT'S MY FACE, but this is still a promising and original debut. It will be interesting to see what he does next.
On first viewing, this stands out as yet another excellent (mostly) offering in the latest wave of American documentaries. Harris' attempts at solving the riddles of identity (personal identity, and how that identity fits into a greater community) are - in THAT'S MY FACE traced back to a childhood in the Bronx; a childhood enhanced or haunted by spiritual visions, conflicting ideas on the place of Christianity in an African-American family, and a father's view of Africa as an idealized homeland.
Harris' reality is suddenly transformed when his mother accepts a teaching job in Tanzania (again - as with his Bronx childhood - documented with carefully restored super-8 footage), and the family is exposed to African customs both inspiring, and quite different from those a Black American would be accustomed to.
Harris returns to the US, and finished Harvard, with the intent of attending med school. He instead opts to explore his still-evolving interest in pan-African spirituality by making another trip - this one a more exploratory trip to black communities in the Northeastern region of Brazil. In explorations of ritual, Harris eventually begins to connect the pieces of family history, identity and spirituality, cryptic though it all remains (he's told rather bluntly at one point in Brazil that 'black Americans coming here are searching for something that doesn't exist anymore,' a tragic-but-true observation with profound psychological resonance).
Harris is a little too ethereal for his own good through much of THAT'S MY FACE, but this is still a promising and original debut. It will be interesting to see what he does next.