REDEYE presents an evening of intimate short films and deep conversations. Join us to explore three visions of identity and environments: physical, social and spiritual. These filmmakers have distinct approaches, each contributing new methods of storytelling to the canon of contemporary filmmaking. We’ll be talking to the makers and creators in a post-screening Q&A.
Films Screening:
Breathing By Numbers (Julianknxx, 2022, 20min)
Julianknxx continues his Black Corporeal series - an investigation into the ways in which Black psyches are affected by their physical realities - with his third work in the series Breathing By Numbers, a layering of poetry, essay, documentary and music. The film exposes the multiple realities of Black life in London and our relationships with this built environment that holds us.
Hello Mr Officer (Djofray Makumbu, 2020, 23min)
Hello Mr Officer is a moving image work by Djofray Makumbu that navigates the everyday experiences of young Black men across London who are frequently stopped, searched, and harassed by the police. The work uses stop motion, watercolour and rotoscope alongside archive material from The People’s Account (1987), a documentary about the Broadwater Farm riot in Tottenham, North London.
Marks Of Worship (Akinola Davies Jr., 2016, 6min)
The video, directed by Akinola Davies Jr., is a collaborative piece with the experimental producer and vocalist Klein. This immersive film and sound experience depicts a despondent character in the throes of a traditional Nigerian celebration before a surreal spiritual cleansing.
About REDEYE:
More than just a film club, REDEYE is a not-for-profit organisation putting its resources into the communities we work with. Our work with Southwark College encourages students to get insight into creative industries, spend one-to-one time with industry experts and have opportunities for work experience in creative / media companies.
Artists Biographies:
Djofray Makumbu is a British Congolese artist born and based in East London. Djofray's work draws on his personal experiences and those of people close to him. Recent works have focused on the shame and stigma of mental health difficulties, the pressures and violence of inner-city life from the perspective of young people, and the joy of music and dancing. Djofray loves to mix up different techniques combining stop motion animation, video footage, and hand-drawn and painted elements in moving image works, sometimes presented alongside live performances, such as dance or scripted scenes. Each element is carefully self-made, from hand-built sets and hand-stitched garments for Claymation characters to soundtracks developed closely with his brother.
JULIANKNXX
In casting his own practice as a ‘living archive’ or a ‘history from below’, Julianknxx draws on West African traditions of oral history to reframe how we construct both local and global perspectives. He does this through a body of work that challenges fixed ideas of identity and unravels linear Western historical and socio-political narratives, attempting to reconcile how it feels to exist primarily in liminal spaces.
Akinola Davies Jr. is a multi-disciplined filmmaker, writer and video artist. His work is situated between West Africa and the UK as he identifies as a member of the global diaspora who is situated within the margins of being part of both worlds. Akinola delicately navigates the collision of colonial and imperial tradition whilst advocating a return to indigenous narratives. He explores themes of community, race, spirituality, identity and gender, telling the stories that bridge the gap between traditional and millennial communities. He draws from aspects of collective, individual memory and lived experience.