1:30 - 2 pm Music videos on loop.
No One Knows
Fanti Love Song
Love Mantra
Kelewele Pimping
Mother of All Time
2-3:00 - Film Screening
The Samaritan (2012 7:25 min)
Inspired by the 'Dogma 95' style of filmmaking, the Samaritan' takes a raw and gritty look at how in order to survive, the youth in some West African countries indulge in sadistic acts with certain beliefs of attaining success.
The Last Summer (2015, 3:05 min silent, with accompanying music score)
A cautionary tale of friendship and a mysterious charm bracelet.
body&form (2018, 2:04 min)
Monochrome moves into color, static become kinetic accompanying an eerie track to study displaced movements of a disjointed body as expressed in the first of a dance video series examining the body that is constantly in flux.
Pen to Paper (2013, 5 min)
When writer’s block hits Gary who needs to make a deadline, he meets a stranger who offers him something that could change his life.
Routine (2014, 14:15 mins)
Inspired by several true accounts of children and women being lost due to the cruel perversion of those who roam free, undeterred by systems that seem to honor their rights over the victims, this tale sheds light on how ludicrousness reality tv can be.
bodyshutter (2018 4:45)
A hybrid visual "dance for screen" piece that experiments with 16mm film and video editing techniques against a distorted soundtrack; exploring a body in motion against the element of light, as it transforms into a camera shutter.
transplanted (2016, 10:11 min)
Framed by the writings of author bell hooks, transplanted uses space, discontinuity editing and found footage to explore the theme of immigrant displacement through the perspective of an African woman relocated to Iowa.
mother of all time (2018 4:06 min)
An experimental dance project that explores the relationship between time, space, dance, and music. This was the first of it's kind to combine choreographed dance, hyperlapse presentation, and dramatic camera movement. The piece shows how a person's interpretation of time can affect their perception of movement. Shot in Iowa City.
moving in tongues (2018 5:22 min)
Inspired by Maya Deren's "Ensemble for Somnambulists", a dancer washes up on the shore and performs a series of movements to communicate her existence.
TRT/66:03 mins
Q&A with filmmaker to follow the screening
P Sam Kessie creates stories that explore bodies in space through movement. In addition to experimental dance films, her hybrid work found interest in cautionary tales regarding the desires of protagonists falling into an obsession, addiction, and alienation. Obsessed with finding her own avant-garde style, Kessie's films in this series delve into the mental world of characters moved by their own desires.
Bio: British-Ghanaian film and video maker, P. Sam Kessie, creates narratives, documentaries, and hybrid projects across the United States, Europe, and Africa through her production company, Sankofa Pictures. Currently, an MFA candidate in Cinematic Arts department at the University of Iowa, Kessie’s work often combines space and time with fragmented memories, forming a sense of identity disorientation where personal and sensual experiences intertwine. Her works have screened at several international festivals including Zanzibar International and Carthage Film Festival, broadcasted on Iowa Public Access Television’s ‘The Film Lounge’, and exhibited at the Carthage Museum, Cambodia Film Festival, and Breaking Ground.