BERLIN FASHION FILM FESTIVAL 2023
BEST EXPERIMENTAL (2023)
BERLIN FASHION FILM FESTIVAL 2023 (BEST EXPERIMENTAL)
JPG
MP4
7m:36s
Birthright
Girls in Film (GiF Productions Ltd)
Shortlist
| Title of Piece: | Birthright |
|---|---|
| Production Company: | Girls in Film (GiF Productions Ltd) |
| Director: | Jade O'Belle |
| Producer(s): | Becs Rainey, Sohaila Ferrier |
| Art Director: | Jade O'Belle |
| Editor: | Clémentine Bartaud |
| Director of Photography: | Simona Pranulyte |
| Production Design: | Alan Scott |
| Costume Design: | Jade O'Belle |
| Hair & Makeup: | Alice Dodds, Jade O'Belle |
| Music/Sound Design: | Luke Osborne, Nadiah Adu-Gyamfi, Jade O'Belle |
| Casting Director: | Luke Osborne |
| Animation: | MUNGO |
| Additional Credits: | Executive Producer - Becs Rainey |
| Additional Credits: | Choreographer - Becky Namgauds |
| Additional Credits: | Composer - Luke Osborne |
| Additional Credits: | Colourist - Vlad Barin - CHEAT |
| Additional Credits: | Cast - Jade O'Belle, Yinka Adeyoka, Nadiah Adu-Gyamfi, Tania Dimbelolo, Kassichana Okene-Jameson, Ebun Sodipo |
| Instagram Tag: | @jade_o_belle @girlsinfilm_gif @sossyfez @becsrai #birthright #jadeobelle |
| Short Synopsis: | Jade O’Belle is a British interdisciplinary artist who employs a variety of media in her practice, such as film, still image, costume, sound and performance to explore alternative concepts of queer femme identity, ritual, and her West African heritage. O’Belle's interests seep into her work, which explores notions of identity, queerness and sexuality. O’Belle engages with the body through her mythical prose and visual imagery. Jade intuitively uses rituals to create connections to memories of her forefathers that have been passed through her body to inform the daily rituals that she uses to move through the world. Birthright is a mesmerising convergence of ethereal worlds; a transformative expression of identity, sexuality and culture. It is an ode for femme people of colour to explore and envisage alternative non-western understandings of themselves in relation to their bodies. As the High Priestess summons and connects with the ancestors, we are plunged into an otherworldly milieu, the backdrop to the surreal mythologies of Yoruba culture, spirituality and ritual. Visuals of seas and the flickering of mirrors and light transcends us into a haunting exploration of selfhood, anchored by an equally haunting score. Birthright encapsulates the Black femme-identity through Yoruba iconography, a conceptual film that strives to reclaim conversations on selfhood, our bodies, and power. |
