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Coffee Coloured Children (1988)
 

Synopsis

Warning: screenonline full synopses contain 'spoilers' which give away key plot points. Don't read on if you don't want to know the ending!

Views of racially-mixed families enjoying days out at the beach, rallies in the city and festivals in parks.

A young, white man striding down the street comes across dog turd. He scoops up the mess into a plastic bag. He proceeds into a residential building until he comes to one door in particular. The man smears the dog mess over the front door, taking particular care to spread it on the letterbox, finally pushing the remainder into the house. He pins a racist notice on the door.

Mother washes the mess off the door. A girl and her brother vividly recall the incident. They were the only black children in the neighbourhood. She remembers, as a young child, wanting to grow up white.

The young children frequently engage in activities that reveal their anxiety. The girl uses bleach powder to cover her skin and the boy tries to scrub off his brown colour in the bath. The young girl wants to be a classical dancer. She pirouettes in lace, her face painted white.

As young adults, the boy and girl make a bonfire of the things that symbolised their childhood hatred of their colour - bleach, white lace, masks.