what is this edifying documentary coming soon to arte.tv?

On December 16, Being black at the Opera lands on arte.tv before being broadcast on television. A poignant documentary in which we follow Guillaume Diop and Sulivan Loiseau, two black artists who could have broken the glass ceiling of the opera world.

“Black is not an insult. It’s my skin color, and it’s stylish.” In March 2023, Guillaume Diop was named principal dancer at the Paris Opera, becoming the first black dancer to achieve such a prestigious rank in the history of the famous institution. Sulivan Loiseau has just joined the Paris Opera orchestra as a double bassist, where she is the only person of color. Two artists who are at the heart of Being black at the Operawhich will be available free of charge on the arte.tv platform from December 16, before being broadcast on December 23 from 11:05 p.m. on Arte.

Directed by Virginie Plaut and Youcef Khemane, this edifying documentary retraces the journey of Guillaume Diop, who, three years before his appointment as a principal dancer, had co-written with other dancers an explosive manifesto on racial discrimination at the Paris Opera . At the age of 23, the young dancer knows that he embodies a form of hope for many children from diverse backgrounds, despite the fear that assail him of being such a “role model”, but also this feeling of illegitimacy which sometimes takes possession of him, for fear of positive discrimination with the aim of making the Opera less white. “I worked like crazy, I didn't want people to say that I was put there just because I'm black”he confides in Being black at the Opera.

A dive into the daily life of two artists at the Opera

A documentary which leaves a large place for dance, but which also evokes the journey of Sulivan Loiseau, whose testimony on the desire for more normality for the new generation of black artists is essential. Between rehearsals, tours, interviews and delicate meetings of the Paris Opera’s “diversity” advisory committee, Being black at the Opera evokes the slow but certain change of this illustrious institution, where certain professors continue to fight to preserve it as it is, with its aesthetic codes. Despite everything, the glass ceiling seems to be cracking little by little, as this intimate documentary not to be missed suggests.