In collaboration with Vassar College’s conference “Quiet as It’s Kept: Passing Subjects, Contested Identities” and Professor Mia Mask, we present a short series of films exploring themes around racial fluidity, impersonation, and assimilation.

“Sirk unleashed a melodramatic torrent of rage at the corrupt core of American life—the unholy trinity of racism, commercialism, and puritanism.” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker)

Widow Lora (Lana Turner) meets another single mother, African-American divorcee Annie (Juanita Moore) at the beach when their daughters play together. Annie needs a place to live, so Lora hires her as a live-in housekeeper and sitter, which freeing Lora to pursue her dream of becoming a Broadway star. Eleven years later, their girls have grown up, and Annie’s light-skinned daughter is breaking her mother’s heart by attempting to pass for white. This powerfully acted melodrama, which earned two Oscar nominations, was one of the first films to focus on the cultural divide between black and white in America.