Kahlil Joseph constructs a fascinating cinematic kaleidoscope of history from a Black perspective.
The power of Kahlil Joseph’s radiant feature debut already speaks through the fact that the fervent cinematic compilation withstood the controversy preceding its premiere. Only weeks before the experimental essay of the renowned director and visual artist was supposed to run at the Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section, one of its financiers pulled it from the selection. Participants Media, who produced with A24, alleged that Joseph had secretly made a new cut of his work and presented it to international festivals and film critics. The studio seemingly felt “sidelined” by the new version of the film which now they apparently preferred to be scratched altogether.
The whole issue boiled down after new backers Rich Spirit and BN Media bought the rights from Participant. A24, it was revealed, had left the project earlier on. The Sundance world premiere was reinstalled as well as the international premiere at the Berlinale. While it has been announced the supposedly secret new cut was a polished version of the same film, it is still tempting to read more complex issues into the dispute. The director’s political awareness and sharp historic focus are immediately clear. His fast-paced compilation starts out by presenting itself as conventional biographical documentary before revealing to the audience that it is something entirely different.
A bold assembly of excerpts from different kinds of media such as film, photography, books and written words, painting and audio recordings morphs into a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of Black history. Its innovative idiosyncrasy rejects conventional patterns of historiography and its cinematic extensions. Instead of defining an obvious starting point and from there moving chronologically, the narrative jumps back and forth between places, events, personalities, items and ideas. The intersectional brainstorm cowritten by a vast array of artistic and intellectual voices feels like skipping through the pages of an encyclopedia. This is not an incidental comparison. W. E. B. Du Bois’ “Encyclopedia Africana” is citied early on as an essential source of references.
Du Bois’ aim was to create an alternative and in some parts contrarian repository for information about Black historical figures, achievements and knowledge that could be accessed especially by younger generations. In its best moments Joseph’s work seems to aspire to be a 21st century version of such formative importance. Even though the fusion of rapidly cut video-style clips, excerpts from Black, TV footage and archival material doesn’t succeed to be such a groundbreaking cultural touchstone, its sense of self-awareness and intersectionality opens up a refreshing modern view on a multitude of subjects from Du Bois’ encyclopaedia as well as a timely reassessment of common cultural denominators.
Another important base for the film is an art installation from 2020 by Joseph whose conceptual work continues to appear in galleries and museums. The fact that this installation bears even the same reveals his longtime occupation with recurrent themes, the multiple ways to express them and how the mode of expression shapes the content. The films modus operandi is reminiscent of the installations conceptualisation of journalism. The images on screen often resemble a classic television broadcast. This stylistic connection thrives on the vintage aura of the snippets from former decades. Some of these would have profited from additional explanations or contextualisation. Paradoxically, the highly associative selection of what is included and what is left out makes the kinetic collage also often opaque.
With sometimes dizzying speed and associative alertness Joseph maps out key points which intertwine culture, politics and art, the universal and the personal. Woven into this complex exploration is a fictional tale wavering between sci-fi dream journey and art world thriller. Shaunette Renée Wilson plays an investigative journalist on a transatlantic cruise ship with an influential art professor (Keneza Schaal) might initially seem a tad playful. But like every other element in this multilayered compendium, it links to the lexical main current in intricate ways. The sheer number of themes, motives and media can feel overwhelming. But maybe this is what Joseph had planned for his audience: to leave in awe of the richness and profoundness of Black history when they have only seen a fracture of it.
- OT: BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
- Director: Kahlil Joseph
- Screenplay: Kahlil Joseph, Saidiya Hartman, Irvin Hunt, Madebo Fatunde, Kristen Adele Calhoun, Christina Sharpe, Kaneza Schaal, Onye Anyanwu
- Year: 2025
- Distribution | Production © Rich Spirit Studios
