Sandra Laing

Sandra Laing
Born (1955-11-26) 26 November 1955 (age 68)
Piet Retief, South Africa
Known forSkin
Parent(s)Sannie Laing
Abraham Laing

Sandra Laing (born 26 November 1955) is a South African woman who was classified as Coloured by authorities during the apartheid era, due to her skin colour and hair texture, although she was officially listed as the child of at least three generations of ancestors who had been regarded as white. At the age of 10, she was expelled from her all-white school, and the authorities' decisions based on her appearance disrupted her family and adult life.

Laing was the subject of the 2008 biographical dramatic film Skin, directed by Anthony Fabian, which won numerous awards.[1][2] In addition, she is the subject of the documentaries In Search of Sandra Laing (1977), directed by Anthony Thomas for the BBC, which was banned by the apartheid government of the time,[3] Sandra Laing: A Spiritual Journey (2000), and Skin Deep: The Story of Sandra Laing (2009).

  1. ^ Skin movie official website
  2. ^ Skin film review, Mail & Guardian, 21 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Black Afrikaner" story to become film, BBC News, 29 May 2003.