White Nanny Black Child, review
White Nanny Black Child
UK release: 3 October 2023
Directors: Andy Mundy-Castle
Review by Laurelle Jones
I have been dying to watch this film ever since I heard about its conception in 2022, as I had become consumed in research about farming after watching Farming by British-born actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaj in 2018. And I have to say that I was not disappointed.
The film hit me emotionally in ways I was not expecting, contrary to this, I can not tell you how refreshing it was to hear and see yet another ‘untold’ story about Black people’s history in Britain on the ‘big screen’
This masterpiece begins with clean archive footage used around the 60’s/ 70’s about a young Black child who is in foster care.
The harmless news reporter, sheds light on the normality of ‘farming’ in Britain during the time. The term ‘farming’ has been described as one of the most shocking social experiments in recent UK history where Nigerian children were left with white families, in a form of fostering.
White Nanny Black Child is a 1 hour and 20 minutes documentary full of loss, healing, identity and oneness. We are introduced into the lives of Nigerian adults who have been part of the foster child care system, as they vulnerable share experiences that took place during the pivotal years of their life on earth, as Black Nigerian immigrants.
One of the many things I admired about this journey, was that blame passing was not sought after; but rather a discourse of gaining clarity and the longing to be accepted and respected as the beautiful souls they are, regardless of their upbringing.
There are no words that can express the emotions that can take place, when uprooting one's family in the mind of finding a better life. However, one of the many narratives explored here was that parents involved, did this method, in order to study and better themselves, and the lives of their families; for a greater future.
All perspectives were considered during this feature film; from the biological parents of the children, to those who had raised them.
The importance of how early child development (between ages 0-5) can steer the course of one's life was greatly highlighted. This group of adults found comfort in realising that they were not alone. There were others who had experienced similar upbringings.
We also came to the understanding alongside them that in their adult life, some of their mind sets and relationship mishaps had been based on the feelings of rejection, isolation and neglect that they had been privy to from their biological parents and adopted families. The hardest pill to swallow was that in some of these cases, these feelings were not intentionally imposed, but rather a byproduct of their surroundings.
I urge you to watch White Nanny Black Child and bear witness to a “journey of compassion” as described by director Andy Mundy-Castle. You will experience an influx of emotions that challenge your perception of life, and how we judge others without actually knowing their story.
I left the cinema deeply considering the lives of the other 70,000+ West African children who had been fostered by white Britons and how much we still do not talk about how that has impacted who we are today in Britain as part of the diaspora. The film also prompted me to look inside my own family, though I am from the Caribbean; the story of private fostering is also very prevalent and taboo.