Tag Archives: Documentary

22Jun/22

Influences of Yoruba Culture in the Netflix Documentary “Bigger Than Africa”

Culture, , , ,

Synopsis: Bigger Than Africa documents the journey of enslaved Africans through the lens of these surviving West African cultures. This historical documentary takes you through six countries: Brazil, Cuba, Nigeria, Trinidad & Tobago, The United States, and back to where it all began in West Africa. The well-researched documentary will expose international audiences to how Yoruba culture transcends continents and connects the Black diaspora.

How far does the influence of Yoruba culture go? Well, the documentary Bigger Than Africa gives some examples of what areas are influenced by (and still practice) the culture of Yoruba. Director Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye put together interviews and video clips of people from around the world delving into the history of Yoruba. Taji Mag was able to catch up with the director.

Dapper Dr. Feel (DDF): How did you come up with this project?

Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye (TIA): The idea came to me through research. I started in my final year of film school and I was supposed to do a thesis film before graduating that year. I wanted to do something that reflected my culture and, so, during my research, I came across a village in South Carolina, a Yoruba village in the South.

I assembled my crew and we went to South Carolina. What I found there was really overwhelming for me. Before colonization in West Africa, the Oyo empire was one of the largest empires in West Africa. To now be discovering a village in South Carolina named after Oyo…that just set up something bigger in my head for this project.

I told my crew that we have to go back to LA and they thought I was crazy, but I knew this project was going to be more than a 15-minute short film. 

So I left it alone and I ended up doing something else that year, but I continued my research because I was curious to find out what other places and things I could find out about Yoruba culture, my culture, where I came from.

So the research extended into all those countries you see in Bigger Than Africa. It was shot in Brazil, the United States, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, and then West Africa. Maybe four or five years later was when I revisited the Oyo village. By that time I was ready to move forward with the film.  

DDF: What was your experience like when you traveled to these different locations? 

TIA: It was eye-opening. It’s not like I didn’t have an idea of how far my culture reached growing up in Africa. I had an idea, but it was vague. Like, I’m interviewing people who have a Yuroba name and they’re Brazilian or they’re from Trinidad or Cuba. Now I’m interviewing people who still worship Orishas (gods). Then I’m in Brazil where I bought an Akara (pancake) at a food truck. In Yoruba culture, they call it Akaraj. I made sure I bought that and ate it. 

DDF: What was the most shocking place that you visited during filming?

TAI: Brazil has the largest population of Blacks outside of Africa, so that’s a huge population. In every part of Brazil, you will see imprints of your culture everywhere. As for the music, all over the world they’re singing songs from Yoruba. And no matter where they are from, I can understand what they’re saying. Watching people just dancing and clapping, I was in awe of this beautiful moment.

DDF: The musical influence Yoruba has on the world is very interesting, like the invention of the steel pan drum. How did you react to that discovery? 

TIA: Yeah. That was very interesting. The colonizers took away their skin drums and used them for worship, so the people came up with an alternative which was the steel pan drum. You can’t tell Yoruba history without talking about spirituality. And in Yoruba, the drums are the music, the dance, and the dress. It’s a combination. You can’t take just one, you can’t detach one from the other. So the drum is always there. Maybe that’s why you see the drums in music in a lot of all these countries. That’s why it has been a huge part of music so far for years and years.

DDF: What was it like to screen the film at the United Nations? 

TIA: It was very, very good. It was a very good experience. The film premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles to a sold-out audience. From there we got invitations to festivals around the world. Some people who saw the film said it was the perfect film for the United Nations and invited us to come to the UN. So we went to screen our film at the United Nations this past February. It was a great turnout. 

DDF: Are you working on something new? 

TIA: Yeah. I have a few things that I’m finalizing. One is a documentary and I have two narrative things that we’re almost finalizing. Plus we’ve been getting so many requests for more coverage for Bigger Than Africa. At almost every festival we go to, there’s always someone in the audience who would say we should cover Jamaica or Colombia or other parts of the world. People are saying I need to do a sequel. Hopefully, we’ll get enough support. And if people are pushing for a sequel, I’m open to it as well. 

I truly enjoyed Bigger Than Africa and learned so much about the Yoruba culture and how much it has impacted the world. I highly recommend you stream the documentary on Netflix and see what the buzz is about and why the film was such a hit. Let’s hope to see a part two of this film and see what other parts of the globe have Yoruba roots still intact.

31Jul/21

Ailey, the Documentary, Is Proof There’s Power in Following One’s Passion

Culture, FIlm, , , , ,
Ailey

SYNOPSIS: Alvin Ailey was a trailblazing pioneer who found salvation through dance. AILEY traces the full contours of this brilliant and enigmatic man whose search for the truth in movement resulted in enduring choreography that centers on the Black American experience with grace, strength, and unparalleled beauty. Told through Ailey’s own words and featuring evocative archival footage and interviews with those who intimately knew him, director Jamila Wignot weaves together a resonant biography of an elusive visionary.

Ailey Director Jamila Wignot
Director Jamila Wignot

A working-class, gay, Black man, he rose to prominence in a society that made every effort to exclude him. He transformed the world of dance and made space for those of us on the margins—space for black artists like Rennie Harris and me. – Jamila Wignot

I moved to DC over ten years ago, and one of the first advertisements I saw was for the Ailey Dance Company at the Kennedy Center. I googled the name of the dance company because I was interested in its origin. After all, it featured Black dancers. To my surprise, I found out the company was well known; its visionary, Alvin Ailey, was even more significant. Ailey, the documentary by Jamila Wignot, gave me a more introspective look at the famous creative. There is so much I learned about Ailey. His passion, hard work, and his resilience as a dance creative were unparalleled. I can say without a doubt that this is one of the best documentaries I have seen at Sundance 2021.

Ailey

As the film starts, voiceovers commence as photos of Alex Ailey are shown on screen. Jamila Wignot does a great job of adding in archived recordings of Ailey. This made me feel as if Ailey was talking to me directly or as if I was watching him chat live at the Actor’s Theater. You can tell the Ailey Dance company is still rich with the passion Ailey provided. When I saw the Artistic Director, Robert Battle, and Choreographer, Rennie Harris, instruct students, I could immediately see Alvin Ailey’s influence. 

I found it interesting that at age 14, Ailey fell in love with dancing, but his gym teacher wanted him to play football. After all, back in that time, the understanding of masculinity was not as broad as it is today. Ailey would be teased if he were to skip men’s athletics to participate in dance. 

The dance performance of Carmen at the Lester Horton School was one of the inspirations that prompted Ailey to immerse himself into the art. Ailey would go to the arrangements with his friend, Don Martin. He described the performances as “beautifully executed by incredible creatures that took the audience into another world”. After noticing Ailey in the audience at multiple concerts, Horton encouraged Ailey to come out and try dance. 

Not Easily Broken

I learned from the film how brave Ailey was to pick dancers who were considered atypical at the time. They traveled around the world sharing their dance art when Black performers were not widely accepted. During one of their first tours, they performed for twenty-five people in Australia and were so good that the show sold out the next night. Director Jamila Wignot’s interpretation of this moment was so spectacular, I felt as though I was actually in attendance of this historical event. 

I appreciated the interviews with former Ailey dancers (Sylvie Winters, Sanita Miller, Masazumi Chaya, and Bill T.Jones). They painted a clear picture of what it was like to be a part of the Ailey dancing family. The stories of the terrible hotels, their crowded small bus, and the long rides made the performers’ tours that much more commendable. It was clear that no matter the conditions, they could still perform to the best of their ability and wow the audience.

His Love, His Creation 

The documentary featured his mom, lover, teacher, and the greatest love of his life, dance. They all were essential to his existence and life force, but his mother, in particular, was highlighted for how much she meant to him. Ailey did not have many relationships or close friends; all he had was dance. It was not until later he realized that outside of his biological family, his dance company was his family, and dance was the glue that held it all together. 

One of the relationships explored in the film was with his short-term lover, Abdullah, a young man he met in France who traveled to New York to be with him. Abdullah disappeared one night via fire escape during a party thrown by Ailey and never returned. The death of his excellent friend, Joyce Trisler, caused him tremendous grief. The repeated loss in his life led to several months of him dealing with depression, leading him to eventually enter a rehabilitation center. 

I loved the film because it showed Ailey’s work was inspired by what he was feeling. For instance, when Fred Hampton died, he developed the play Masekela Langage, and after Joyce Tisler died, he created his tribute, Memoria.  

Last Days

Ailey’s battle with AIDS was a struggle; not only was the disease taking a toll on his physical health, but it was also taking a toll on him mentally. What kept him sane and at peace with this mortality? Dance and his dance family. Although he could barely stand, let alone dance, Ailey would watch his dancers rehearse from a couch his team put in the studio. 

After watching this film, I’ve gained whole new respect for Alvin Ailey, and I now see why advertisements for his dance company can be found everywhere. Ailey’s concerts have received standing ovations and encores because audience members love to see a passion-filled project. It’s apparent that Alvin Ailey’s essence was present during the development of Wignot’s project. If you want to see the beauty of Ailey’s growth as a man and his contribution to dance, I would recommend watching Ailey. The documentary is set to be released in theaters nationwide on August 6th, 2021. 

29Oct/18

Boom for Real: Documentary Paints Stunning Portrait of Basquiat

Art & Design, Creative, Culture, News, , , , , , ,

For Real. Instead of depicting Basquiat’s story as an isolated tragedy, Director Sara Driver diligently addresses the circumstances and environment that the Artist’s life was lent to. No debating his greatness, Boom for Real takes on Jean-Michel as a feeling and thinking human being. One who interacted and lived his life with intention. Focused on the accounts of friends and contemporaries, the viewer gains perspective and insight to some of the intricate parts behind the Artist so many have come to love. The Soho art scene, the popular clubs, the music culture — his fellow artists reconstruct a wild and sometimes crowded portrait while managing to place Basquiat neatly within it. Fab 5 Freddy, Al Diaz, and Lee Quinones are just a few of the remaining staples of that period who appear on-screen.

For 78 mins, both you and Basquiat watch from afar; you through the silver screen and him through wrinkles in time. You actually rarely get to hear him speak during the documentary. It’s almost as if the very words that his peers speak are forming the images of him. Throughout the film, he flips on and off of the screen. Sometimes he’s a still close-up while other times it’s his full body in reverse motion. This allows him to feel to the viewer, at once, both omnipresent and imaginary. Perhaps this powerfully alludes to the artist’s eternal presence in the art world; Lord over the renegades and disruptors yet to come. As opposed to allowing Basquiat to speak for himself, Boom for Real bestows upon those who were akin to his flame the task of reconstructing his essence. He, young, beautiful, and full of potential. Perhaps they even succeed in conjuring his very existence, because by the end of the documentary you will feel as though he is someone you have sat with, hungered with, and grown with. Not only as if you have known him, but as though you also lived through and were shaped by that time and era.

If you are looking for fundamentals such as the likes of family life etc, you will have better luck digging through public record. Appropriate, seeing as how Boom for Real addresses the artist’s teenage years, for most of which he was homeless on the city streets. For a feast of form figuratively following function, allow the film to take you to the very streets and people that shaped his formative teenage years. The years that led to him being the Basquiat that is written in stone on our hearts.

More information about the film can be found here.