Relating racial and sexual difference in Afronautic Research Lab: Newfoundland and Welcome to Africville.

This article examines the relationship between racial and sexual difference through a comparison of two Canadian short films: Dana Inkster's *Welcome to Africville* and Camille Turner's *Afronautic Research Lab: Newfoundland*. Applying Kalpana Seshadri’s theory from *Desiring Whiteness*, it highlights how Turner's film, centered on Newfoundland’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, emphasizes the rigidity and visibility of racial identity tied to the master signifier "Whiteness." In contrast, Inkster’s film, focusing on the erased Black community of Africville and queer sexualities, uses the absence of land to explore the fluidity and relative invisibility of sexual difference, which lacks a master signifier. The article argues that these contrasting approaches reveal different dimensions of Black and queer embodiment and the ongoing impact of settler colonialism and slavery in Canada.