A gentle soul in an oppressive land – Bonnie’s story of life in America

In his accomplished documentary portrait Figs (2023), the US director Sterling Hampton IV shares the life story of an 81-year-old Black American woman named Bonnie Sharpe, set against scenes from a family reunion with her four remaining siblings. In soothing tones, Sharpe recalls growing up in Alabama when segregation was still law before moving to New York and then California, where she ultimately found success as a teacher and author. Throughout the film, Sharpe’s gentle narration is interrupted by jarring glimpses of US racism, which has shaped so many of the contours of her experience. Through his subject and thoughtful treatment, Hampton IV finds the story of a life that’s at once ordinary and extraordinary, lived with a gentle yet profound dignity amid inescapable systems of oppression.