Jabu Nadia Newman directs The Dream That Refused Me
The Dream That Refused Me is an Afrofuturist visual poem directed by Jabu Nadia Newman.
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From Romance Films comes short film production The Dream That Refused Me by director Jabu Nadia Newman, exploring the new aesthetics of the African diaspora by intentionally disrupting ideas of black culture through poetry, internet iconography, and dance.
Commissioned by NOWNESS as part of the No Direct Flight series, this powerful film is woven together by Xhosa poet Siyabonga Jim, who acts as a narrative line between ancestors, CGI avatars (played by South Africa’s first CGI model Kim Zulu), and incandescent landscapes created by collage artist Zas Ieluhee. The film is deliberately left without subtitles, as Jabu explains; “Everything in the film is connected to the (Xhosa) poem and the dance was a way of illustrating things about a relationship that maybe could not be said in words” - this opens up the viewing experience, allowing the audience more space to create their own interpretations.
Credits
View on-
- Production Company Romance Films
- Director Jabu Nadia Newman
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Credits
View on- Production Company Romance Films
- Director Jabu Nadia Newman
- Executive Producer Rozanne Rocha-Gray
- Editor Paul Speirs
- Producer Didi Exelby
- DP Deon van Zyl
- Production Designer Wendy Fredriksson
Explore full credits, grab hi-res stills and more on shots Vault
Credits
powered by- Production Company Romance Films
- Director Jabu Nadia Newman
- Executive Producer Rozanne Rocha-Gray
- Editor Paul Speirs
- Producer Didi Exelby
- DP Deon van Zyl
- Production Designer Wendy Fredriksson
Jabu has developed a distinct voice in her film making, one that deftly masters tonal shifts between heartfelt emotion and satire - giving her films both humour and beauty. Case in point is the Ethnic-ify app scene that takes cultural appropriation to its satirical height where an overly enthusiastic vlogger Hello Nice, virtually tries on different “tribal” adornments. The intention was to “challenge the act of amalgamating “African aesthetics”. Too many meanings, markers and signifiers of different African cultures get confused or mashed together in the media”.
Jabu is currently working on a number of projects, including a film anthology that is due out later this year.
