#BlackBoyJoyGone has just had an Official Selection for the CANNES INDIE Shorts Awards 2022 and VdR–Film Market just shared at LDIF22 in Leicester.
#BlackBoyJoyGone (#BBJG) is a BFI Doc Society funded hybrid documentary by and for black men on mental health, sexual trauma and finding strength through brotherhood. Directed by Ashley Karrell & Isaac Ouro-Gnao Blending interviews, poetry, dance and storytelling, it captures the lives, realities, and the hopeful perspectives of men in the North, the Midlands and London in the United Kingdom.
The individual and collective accounts inform the narratives with the addition of layers of imagery, poetry, and dance. The dance sequences draw from Hip Hop, Popping, Waving, and West African & western Contemporary techniques.
Working collaboratively with mental health organisations and individuals in the UK, including Mind charity, The Survivors Trust and Black mental health professionals, this project has reached out far and wide, to amplify the voices of Black men who are often marginalised and underrepresented in accessing support and wellbeing services.
The title ties in with the celebration of Black men through the Black boy joy motif. It is a play on how we’re never ‘too far gone’ if we seek the right help.
Displaced is the cinematic reimagining of Akeim Toussaint Buck’s one-man dance theatre show: ‘Windows of Displacement’. Created and Co-Directed by Ashley Karrell, the film continues the exploration of themes such as displacement, race, culture and imperialism. Focussing more on the African Diaspora via the settings of the inner-city community. Taking aspects of the live work and re-contextualising them in real-life spaces that support in amplifying this feeling of displacement. Giving the viewer a fraction of the feeling of being displaced people. Visually captivating with striking imagery and virtuoso dance, ‘Displaced’ takes the viewer on a journey calling for reflection and global change.
Muti of Village101 will be facilitating the Q&A discussion on the nature of black filmmakers, writers and artists for reclaiming narratives within generational resolution & social change.
ABOUT
Ashley Karrell is an award-winning director, photographer, film and theatre-maker with a career spanning 20 years. He has produced a broad spectrum of work that includes visual art, commercial and experimental video productions and mass participation pieces across and outside of the UK.
Akeim Toussaint Buck is an interdisciplinary performer and maker, born in Jamaica and raised in England. Akeim’s intention is to create moving, thought-provoking, accessible and free-spirited projects. The work challenges, enlightens and entertains in a visceral way, calling on multiple art forms to tell the story. Audiences are invited to not just observe they are implicit in the experience. His work aims to reflect on reality, looking at ongoing socio-political issues, with a humanitarian intention.
Isaac Ouro-Gnao is a Togolese-British multidisciplinary artist and freelance journalist. He creates empathetic and thought-provoking work rooted in traditional African realism, magical realism, and Africanfuturism. His impact in the dance world has been multifaceted; working as a performer, voice artist, scriptwriter, and marketer for esteemed dance theatre artists and companies.
Credits include award-winning Family Honour (2018) by Spoken Movement; Olivier award-winning BLKDOG (2018) by Far From The Norm; sold-out solo The Oreo Complex (2018); nationally acclaimed Father Figurine (2019) by Body Politic; and Foreign Bodies (2019) by Ella Mesma Company.
Isaac’s movement is rooted in West African Contemporary, Hip Hop, Popping, and House through the inspiration and tutelage of Vicki Igbokwe, Kwame Asafo-Adjei, Alessandra Seutin, and Thomas Presto. His work has also been influenced by Seeta Patel and Tomislav English. He honours them all.
His writing has appeared in the form of features, reviews, and poetry in publications such as Lolwe, The Stage, A Younger Theatre, Poetry Birmingham Literary Journal, and more. Isaac is a member of Body Politic’s board of directors and is a mental health advocate through Mind charity’s Young Black Men steering group.
For more information, please head to https://panoptical.co.uk/.
Performance Info:
Dates: 11st May 2022
Times: Arrival 7.30pm
Displaced Film Screening 8pm
#BlackBoyGone Film Screening 9pm
Post-show discussion 9.25pm -10.05pm
Age Guidance: 12+
Duration: 2hrs 10min including interval
Please e-mail us ahead of the show to ensure we are aware of and can facilitate any access needs