The Body Beautiful (1991)
This bold, stunning exploration of a white mother who undergoes a radical mastectomy and her Black daughter who embarks on a modeling career reveals the profound effects of body image and the strain of racial and sexual identity on their charged, intensely loving bond. At the heart of Onwurah’s brave excursion into her mother’s scorned sexuality is a provocative interweaving of memory and fantasy. The filmmaker plumbs the depths of maternal strength and daughterly devotion in an unforgettable tribute starring her real-life mother, Madge Onwurah.
Director: Ngozi Onwurah
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Madge Onwurah as Narrator (voice) Mother/Herself |
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Rosie Rowell as Narrator (voice) Daughter |
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Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre as The Daughter (as Sian Martin) |
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Brian Bovell as Young Man |
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Maureen Douglass as Young Mother |
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Valentine Nonyela as Peter |
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Louis Altinson as |
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Linda Dobson as |
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Richard Gray as |
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Haley McKay as |
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Michael McKay as |
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Nina McKay as |
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Saffron Burrows as Model |
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Nadja Carr as Model |
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Ann Parks as Model |
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Jane Yeomans as Model |
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Novlet as Model |
| Sound | Mags Scholes | Boom Operator |
| Sound | Richard Gray | Sound Recordist |
| Directing | Ngozi Onwurah | Director |
| Production | Lin Solomon | Producer |
| Writing | Ngozi Onwurah | Writer |
| Production | Simon Onwurah | Producer |
| Editing | Liz Webber | Editor |
| Camera | Peter Collis | Director of Photography |
| Production | Kate Ogborn | Executive Producer |
| Directing | Kanayo Onwurah | Assistant Director |
| Sound | Jonathon Hirst | Original Music Composer |
| Sound | Anthony Quigley | Original Music Composer |
| Production | Sarah Carr | Production Manager |
| Production | Ben Gibson | Executive Producer |
