Since 1968, the Miss Black America beauty pageant has been celebrating and upholding the philosophy, "Black is Beautiful." Capturing the 50th anniversary edition of this once-revolutionary event, SUBJECTS OF DESIRE dives deeper, deconstructing the current meaning of the phrase.

Director Jennifer Holness' second feature examines how shifting global beauty standards are embracing Black aesthetics, but—as one contestants points out—on the backs of Black women. Why is it that the same Black features are more desirable when they're on the body of a white woman? In the face of this contradiction, today's Miss Black America contestants embrace all the different variations of what it means to be a Black woman in North America.

Featuring interviews with India.Arie, Amanda Parris and Rachel Dolezal, SUBJECTS OF DESIRE offers a much-needed deconstruction of the intersection of race and the power of beauty.