Vénus noire

Writer/director Abdellatif Kechiche's follow-up to The Secret of the Grain tells the true-life tale of Saartjie "Sarah" Baartman (Yahima Torres), aka the "Hottentot Venus," a South African slave who in the early 19th century became a European sensation by starring in revolting London and Paris shows as an exotic, animalistic dark-continent freak. (nick schager)