Suspended Animation

This is an incredibly and powerfully moving social documentary come drama. A young woman sits down and writes a desperate letter to a friend. What follows is a remarkable talking head style spoken essay on the nature and power of racism, both institutionalized by the media and channeled through the individual in its thrall.

Beautifully composed, produced, directed, and edited by Ada Elechi and shot by Megan Blackburn, this short film has the power to move simply by its grace, eloquence and understated production. There is no anger in this, or indeed judgment but it speaks volumes about the pressures under which minorities live. I was utterly taken aback by the power of this film and the beautiful way in which it was written and presented.

Alechi was born in Nigeria and lived there and in the Netherlands until she studied in the US, at Belmont University in Nashville where she graduated with a BA in Journalism. Since then she has worked for Guernica Magazine and as a publicist for the NY Writers Coalition. With a passion for documenting African stories and histories that would otherwise go unnoticed, Elechi is someone to watch out for if Suspended Animation is anything to go by.

A Postcard from Egypt

Moonboy

I don’t mean to make you cry, but I expect you may have a moist pair of eyes by the end of this.  It tells the tale of a young boy who is a little neglected, in as much as he is left in front of the TV and is exposed, via this modern day Pandora’s box, to everything that the forces of contemporary media can thrust at him.

Little surprise then that he wishes to escape and this charming visual metaphor by Moreframes allows him to do just that. 

Whether you are man or woman, boy or girl there is every chance that you have felt like this child at some point in your life.  Go reach for the moon!