Jojolo

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A short motion picture film with the title "Jojolo." There are two release prints (2018.37.3.1a) and (2018.37.3.3a), both of which are 16mm acetate film with optical sound and a magnetic track (2018.37.3.2a). All are 16mm acetate film The film depicts the life of Jojolo (Johanne Harrelle), a young Black woman working as a fashion model in mid-1960s Paris. It opens with Jojolo applying makeup to her face as instrumental jazz music (Fire Waltz by Eric Dolphy) plays in the background. This is accompanied by voiceover narration. The woman states that jojolo is a Yoruba word that means "Look at the pretty girl." In the next scene, Jojolo walks out of a Christian Dior store unto the busy Rue François 1er and exclaims although it was named after a 16th century French king, there is nothing majestic about it but its name.

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