Original title Bigger than Barbie
Type Documentaries
Director Tina Davis

Short summary In South Africa, a small group of women from the townships around Cape Town are changing their lives, and exciting people all over the world by making colourful beaded dolls.

In Bigger than Barbie we follow the women behind the beading project, Monkeybiz and their fight to overcome poverty and HIV/AIDS through contemporary art. We also join the dolls on a fascinating journey from the township Khayelitsha to Donna Karan’s high fashion store on Madison Avenue. From the fashion world of New York, the dolls travel to participate at the Mandela concert for HIV/Aids in Norway on their quest to become Bigger than Barbie.

The film includes appearances from Desmond Tutu, Donna Karan, Annie Lennox and Nelson Mandela.

Summary When Tina Davis first saw the colourful and quirky Monkeybiz dolls in a friends’ house four years ago, she fell in love immediately. Back then she didn’t know anything about who made the dolls or where they came from. A few months later she came across the dolls in a shop. It was only then that she learnt about the non-profit organisation, Monkeybiz and their amazing work combining arts and empowerment for women from the poorest townships in Cape Town, South Africa.

After her first visit to Cape Town in late 2002, she was convinced that the fascinating story of Monkeybiz and their invaluable work could be made into an uplifting and heartfelt documentary.

We follow the dolls on a fascinating journey from the township of Khayelitsha to the high-end stores of Donna Karan in New York. The film also takes you to Tromsø, “the land of the midnight sun” in the far north of Norway, where Monkeybiz had an exhibition in connection with the 46664 Arctic concert for HIV/AIDS in 2005. The strong and admirable women behind Monkeybiz are at the heart of Bigger than Barbie. The film also includes appearances from Desmond Tutu, Donna Karan, Annie Lennox and Nelson Mandela.

D.O.P Gunnhild Westhagen Magnor, Joachim Håge, Adam Asmal
Editor Hilde Bjørnstad
Sound Yasser Booley; Erling Rein
Producer Thomas Robsahm, Tina Davis
Production company Speranza Film as | Øvre Foss 14 | N-0555 Oslo | tel: +47 22 38 03 90 | fax: +47 22 38 03 91
speranza @ speranza.no | www.speranza.no
Country of origin Norway
Release date (national) 2006-11

Technical information

Format DIGIBETA
Colour Colour
Length in min's 52
International sales Palm Pictures | 76 Ninth Avenue, 11th Floor |
New York, NY 10011 | USA
(North America, Caribia, Japan, Australia, NZ, UK; France, Germany)