Terence Dixon
Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris
In 1970, a British film crew set out to make a literary portrait of James Baldwin set in Paris, insisting on setting aside his activism. The author visits Parisian landmarks and reflects on revolution, colonialism, and what it means to be Black in Europe—while bristling at the filmmakers’ questions.
Meeting the Man
In 1970, a British film crew set out to make a straightforward literary portrait of James Baldwin set in Paris, insisting on setting aside his political activism. Baldwin bristled at their questions, and the result is a fascinating, confrontational, often uncomfortable butting of heads between the filmmakers and their subject, in which the author visits the Bastille and other Parisian landmark and reflects on revolution, colonialism, and what it means to be a Black expatriate in Europe.