Shorts Program: Transformation
77min
These films approach the potency of expression and reinvention through lyrical movement, exuberant artistry, and inventive forms of storytelling.
Circus Movements
Lukas Berger and Mário Gajo de Carvalho, Austria/Ethiopia/Germany/Portugal, 2019, 15m
This documentary showcases the spectacular movements of Ethiopia’s Circus Debere Berhan just as much as the country’s sublime landscapes. Among the charming sights are an aerial hoop artist serenely doing her routine from the branch of a majestic tree and a beach scene featuring a pair of spinning performers tirelessly at work amid a group of unknowing, thirsty cattle.
The Heavy Shadow of the Crow
Behnam Asadolahi Iran, 2019, 12m
In this experimental short five humans are born from the earth’s surface into a scorching desert. A sinister crow atop a lone tree draws their attention to a seat beneath it, instantly stirring up a violent power struggle. In an unexpected and clever turn, this all too familiar narrative is given a chance to take itself into a different direction.
Emergence
Clarissa Rebouças and Julie Bernier, Canada, 2018, 8m
In this mediation on womanhood, Haitian actress Katiana Milfort provides a moving voiceover detailing her experiences while she poetically acts out her story in the setting of a beach. Emerging limb by limb from beneath the sand, she describes the “boundaries within boundaries” of growing up female while approaching the vastness of the sea and her own determination.
The Legend of Lwanda Magere
Kwame Nyong'o, Kenya, 2020, 10m
In this telling of the heroic story of Lwanda Magere, a superhuman warrior with skin of stone and the strength of ten men, a Kenyan folk tale traditionally passed down through oral traditions is preserved through twenty-first century techniques by an African team of animators and artists based in Nairobi.
Time to Leave
Léwuga Benson, USA, 2019, 17m
In this experimental documentary-essay, filmmaker Léwuga Benson assembles and alters archival footage and recordings to provocatively reiterate a history of violent oppression and surveillance of Black people. Oscillating between the past and present, Benson points to the chronic nature of racism and the continual need to challenge assumptions about power and privilege.
The Circle
Lanre Malaolu, UK, 2019, 15m
Combining movement with documentary, The Circle is a bold and expressive portrait of David and Sanchez, two teenage brothers living in an East London housing project. Choreographer and filmmaker Lanre Malaolu invites them to discuss their relationships, stigmas they face, and mental health while interpretive dancers enter their neighborhood spaces, poignantly communicating these experiences.
This screening is a part of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF)
