Womanhood While Black: Subversive Subjects, Sublime Possibilities

Victoria Nambi selects a programme of short films exploring the subversive, sensual and sublime possibilities for Black womanhood. In their own distinctive and indelible way, each short ennobles the interiority and persistent humanity of their subjects.

 

The screening is followed by a conversation between curator Victoria Nambi and ICA Assistant Curator Ifeanyi Awachie.

 

Programme

Terence Nance, Univitellin, 2016, 15 mins

Gordon Napier, 1745, 2017, 18 mins

Bernard Nicholas, Daydream Therapy, 1977, 8 mins

Fronza Woods, Killing Time/Fannie’s Film, 1979, 25 mins

Reina Gossett and Sasha Wortzel, Happy Birthday Marsha!, 2017, 13 mins

Adepero Oduye, To Be Free, 2017, 13 mins

Terence Nance is an artist born and raised in Dallas, Texas. His first feature film, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, premiered in the New Frontier section of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Terence is also a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow. His most recent films and performances, including Univitellin, premiered at Sundance 2016, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Sundance 2017 respectively.

 

Gordon Napier is a BAFTA & BIFA nominated director originally from Scotland. He has a Master of Fine Art in Film Directing from The University of Edinburgh; his work there earned him the coveted UK Prince William BAFTA & Warner Bros. Film Scholarship. His fiction projects explore the complexities of the human condition contextualised by the natural world.

 

Bernard Nicolas is a writer, producer, and director originally from Haiti. A product of the L.A. Black Rebellion, he holds a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from UCLA. His work has been exhibited at prestigious sites such as the Tate Modern, the National Gallery of Art, the Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque, and the Harvard Film Archive.

 

Fronza Woods is an African-American filmmaker best known for her short films. Woods was born in Detroit and now lives in Southern France. In addition to making her own films, Woods was an assistant sound engineer for John Sayles's film The Brother From Another Planet.

 

Reina Gossett is an activist, writer, and filmmaker, currently the 2016–2018 Activist-in-Residence at Barnard Center for Research on Women. Gossett is most notable for her work in transgender activism and economic justice, through her work with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Queers for Economic Justice.

 

Sasha Wortzel is an artist and filmmaker working primarily in time-based media. She has presented work at the New Museum, Brooklyn Museum, DOC NYC, Outfest, UnionDocs, Tribeca Interactive, Leslie Lohman Museum, and A.I.R. Gallery. Her work has been featured by the New York Times, New York Magazine, Artforum, and The Nation. Wortzel received her MFA from Hunter College.

 

Adepero Oduye is a Nigerian-American actress, director, and writer. She is known for her leading role in Pariah (2011), as well as supporting roles in 12 Years a Slave (2013) and The Big Short (2015). All three films received widespread critical acclaim.

 

Victoria Nambi is a creative, born and based in London, with a particular interest in film. A recent English graduate from University College London, Nambi made her co-curatorial debut at the 2018 Chronic Youth Festival with Elsewhere Within Here: African Voices, a programme of short films featuring young African protagonists.