Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever (2012)

What does beauty look like? In this award-winning short, Kenyan filmmaker Ng’endo Mukii combines animation, performance, and experimental techniques to create a visually arresting and psychologically penetrating exploration of the insidious impact of Western beauty standards and media-created ideals on African women’s perceptions of themselves. From hair-straightening to skin-lightening, YELLOW FEVER unpacks the cultural and historical forces that have long made Black women uncomfortable, literally, in their own skin.

Date of release
2012-09-01
TMDB
7.6 / 10 (7)
Runtime
7m
Genres
Animation, Documentary
Director
Ng'endo Mukii

Casting

Interesting facts

Yellow Fever is a 2012 Kenyan short animated documentary film directed by Ng'endo Mukii. The film examines the influence of globalization and Western media on African women’s perceptions of beauty, particularly in relation to skin lightening and hair practices. It was produced between London and Nairobi and was originally created as Mukii’s thesis project for her Master of Arts in Animation at the Royal College of Art.

Production

Yellow Fever was produced between London and Nairobi, reflecting Mukii’s transnational experience. The project initially involved interviews with women in public spaces such as markets and hair salons, but later shifted toward a more personal focus on Mukii’s family. This change shaped the film’s intimate narrative approach.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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