Futures Imperfect: Inscriptions of Self and Community in A String of Pearls

A String of Pearls (2002) is Camille Billops and James Hatch’s sixth and final film, concluding a trilogy that began with Suzanne, Suzanne (1982). Now dedicated to the men of Billops’s family, the feature’s affiliation to self-representational practices is woven in a refracted and collectivized way, building bridges between the private sphere and the social issues that permeate it. This essay analyzes how the film creates a sense of community in an extended and constantly changing manner, carrying in its wake a dense dimension of temporality. For this investigation, I will present the particularities of the film’s affiliation with the field of documentary, which highlights an aspect of experimentation, and refer to concepts of Afro-Brazilian origin and the work of contemporary Brazilian filmmaker Tila Chitunda, indicating approaches that go beyond the immediate context of these films.