A Vulnerable Portrait of Girlhood Between Two Cultures Is a Searing Indictment of the Commercialization of Budding Sexuality— ‘Cuties,’ dir. Maïmouna Doucouré, 2020September 24th, 2020|Country: France, Senegal|In a much-discussed coming-of-age comedy-drama, French filmmaker of Senegalese origin does not pull any punches while shedding light on the way cultural excesses harm those caught between them
Four Women Dance Innocence and Experience to the Choreography of Isadora Duncan’s Grief—‘Isadora’s Children’, dir. Damien Manivel, 2019November 22nd, 2020|Country: France, South Korea|A triptych in which different women reinterpret legendary dancer Isadora Duncan’s choreography she created after the death of her two small children
A Displaced Child Prodigy’s Imagination Offers Ideas For Our Collective Future—‘Anbessa’, dir. Mo Scarpelli, 2019November 15th, 2020|Country: Ethiopia, Italy, USA|Urban development in Addis-Ababa and humanity’s race for progress are explored through the eyes of a curious, talented ten-year-old boy living in a hut in the shadow of shiny new condominiums
Reggae Legend Toots Lives On in the Maytals’ Pioneering, Timeless Album—‘Funky Kingston’, Toots & the Maytals, 1975September 22nd, 2020|Country: Jamaica|Seemingly simple, yet breathtakingly complex, this album is one of the greatest in the genre, showing raw, earthy reggae at its finest: half a century later, it shines powerfully
Cy Gavin’s Incendiary Paintings Shed the Neon Light on the Dark Spots of Bermudian and American HistoriesSeptember 17th, 2020|Country: Bermuda, USA|Excavating the past and applying creative scrutiny, this exciting young artist creates electric landscapes that give power to those hidden in the colonial reading of history
In Amos Ferguson’s Artworks, the Bahamas Is A Paradise Untouched By Colonization, Industry and Financial SchemesSeptember 10th, 2020|Country: Bahamas|After a religious revelation, he became an art sensation in his middle age. Today, Amos Ferguson’s legacy is a testament to why it’s vital to see countries for their marvels and talents, not profits
The Reggae Heart of Anguilla Pulsating In the Dunes—Bankie Banx & The Roots and Herbs, ’Roots and Herbs’, 1977September 8th, 2020|Country: Anguilla|Listen to the man who brought reggae to the Eastern Caribbean and then built an extensive heritage in educating the youth, protecting nature, and sharing good vibes with listeners everywhere
In Postwar Chad, Vengeance Is Served With Freshly Baked Bread, by a Boy With a Gun—‘Dry Season’, Dir. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, 2006August 6th, 2020|Country: Austria, Belgium, Chad, France|In the aftermath of the Chadian war, a young man looks to avenge his father's death but instead finds a father figure in this stunning parable about the humanity hiding beneath the scar tissue
The Songs and Sorrows of São Paulo’s ‘Crack Land’—‘Let It Burn’, dir. Maíra Bühler, 2019July 30th, 2020|Country: Brazil|Tender documentary set in a recovery project for homeless crack users shows that longing, loneliness and lack of perspectives are just as hard to overcome as substance dependence
A Senegalese Village, Swiss Drama and a Masterful Critique of Globalization From Senegal’s Finest Filmmaker—’Hyenas’, dir. Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1992July 21st, 2020|Country: France, Italy, Netherlands, Senegal, Switzerland, United Kingdom|An anti-neocolonialist gem from legendary Mambéty: human nature and capitalist indoctrination are under scrutiny when a billionaire agrees to give money to her struggling hometown—on her terms
Fighting for Change, Against the Odds and with Each Other, a Look Into the DRC Protest Movement—‘Kinshasa Makambo’, dir. Dieudo Hamadi, 2018July 9th, 2020|Country: DR Congo, France, Germany, Norway, Qatar, Switzerland|An incendiary documentary about three brave men at the forefront of the uprising against Joseph Kabila’s rule shows just how much the protest movements across the world have in common
Great Art Stays With You Even After You Die—The Fantasy Coffins of Ghanaian Legend Paa JoeJuly 7th, 2020|Country: Ga-Adangbe People, Ghana|Rooted in the tradition of his Ga people, Paa Joe’s coffins are whimsical, yet concise impressions of their owners—and a staggering reimagining of what art and death really mean to us
On the Fourth of July, It’s Time to Consider What America Is About, So Here’s Some More Political Art From New York’s SoHoJuly 3rd, 2020|Country: USA|We come back to SoHo once more because the artists’ creativity in the neighborhood is still out of control, and they have a lot to say about independence, equality, and justice
Trans Body as a Weapon: The Personal and the Political In Gender Insurgency—‘Bixa Travesty/Tranny Fag’, dir. Claudia Priscilla & Kiko Goifman, 2018July 2nd, 2020|Country: Brazil|A riveting showcase of Linn da Quebrada, an Afro-Brazilian trans rap star from the favela, who dismantles racism, the binary and the patriarchy with her militant music, performances, and life
Blackness, Queerness and Yoruba Tricksters in the Works of Nigerian-British Photographer Rotimi Fani-KayodeJune 25th, 2020|Country: Nigeria, United Kingdom|It has been three decades since the art world lost Rotimi Fani-Kayode to an AIDS-related illness, but his works on race, sexuality, religion, and difference, remain as fresh and urgent as ever
See SoHo Full of Art, as Creators Continue to Counter Racism and InjusticeJune 19th, 2020|Country: USA|Our latest collection of Black Lives Matter art from the streets of SoHo is the richest yet: rush to see it before stores take the boards down
Happy Juneteenth From the Streets of SoHo Overtaken by ArtistsJune 18th, 2020|Country: USA|The day when American slavery officially ended is the perfect occasion to enjoy some Black Lives Matter murals from New York City: celebrate freedom with art
Explore the Works of Art Appearing in SoHo Amidst Black Lives Matter ProtestsJune 17th, 2020|Country: USA|If you can’t go and see the Black Lives Matter-inspired protest art in New York City’ SoHo for yourself, Supamodu is here with a selection of the best murals by established and up-and-coming artists
Brilliance, Blackness, and Brutality of Brazilian Revolutionary Hero—The ‘Marighella,’ dir. Wagner Moura, 2019June 5th, 2020|Country: Brazil|A powerful portrait of a man who tried to take down the Brazilian Military Dictatorship is necessary viewing on the question of violent resistance
Social Realism Meets Coptic Motifs in Eritrean Artist’s Michael Adonai’s Visions of His Evasive HomelandJune 1st, 2020|Country: Australia, Eritrea|He became an artist while struggling for his country’s self-determination as a young man on the frontline of the liberation movement. Then he lost Eritrea again but recreates it in imposing paintings
A Sublime Vision of Faith, Race, and Destiny in Contemporary Cuba, Buttressed by Magic and Poetry—’Black Cathedral’, Marcial Gala, 2012, trans. Anna KushnerMay 26th, 2020|Country: Cuba|The English-language debut by a Cuban writer of staggering talent is a fantasy-spiked exploration of the paths that crime, creativity, Christianity, and craziness can offer
Fantastic Beasts and How to Make Them—The Curious Creations of Zimbabwean Sculptor Tawanda TakuraMay 19th, 2020|Country: Zimbabwe|The rising star of the Zimbabwean art scene and a cobbler by trade creates macabre but delightful sculptures out of discarded shoes and other found objects: an eco-conscious post-apocalyptic menagerie
A Father’s Secrets, War Crimes, and a Daughter’s Return to Liberia—‘Daddy and the Warlord’, dir. Shamira Raphaëla, 2019May 14th, 2020|Country: Aruba, Liberia, Netherlands, USA|A striking documentary follows journalist Clarice Gargard to her homeland, as she investigates the connection between her beloved father and Charles Taylor, one of Africa’s most prominent warlords
Lynching in America, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow—‘Always in Season’, dir. Jacqueline Olive, 2019May 6th, 2020|Country: USA|An unsettling, indispensable documentary on the legacy of lynching that juxtaposes memory of historical cases with a recent one and asks the questions that the American society evades
Migrants Playing the Waiting Game In the Shadow of the Border Wall—‘Chèche Lavi’, dir. Sam Ellison, 2019April 19th, 2020|Country: Haiti, Mexico, USA|A portrait of two Haitian men seeking admission into the US in Tijuana becomes a complex reflection on the Beckettian nature of immigration’s bureaucracy and the sacrifices it demands
Powerhouse Rapper From Chad Who Rallies the Country’s Best Musical Talent Around Him—Anonyme, ‘Mukchacha,’ ‘Farafina Victory’ and ‘Comme un Seul Homme,’ 2019April 12th, 2020|Country: Chad|A musical triptych that invites to reclaim black heritage and collaborate creatively from a visionary hip-hop artist with a vision for African hegemony and an exemplary taste
The Diminishing Returns of Migration and Love—‘Juanita’, dir. Leticia Tonos Paniagua, 2018April 9th, 2020|Country: Dominican Republic, Spain|An absorbing exploration of what it means to be a migrant woman or one of her loved ones told through a hybrid of a romantic comedy, Christmas film, and a homecoming narrative
A Guyanese Artist, His Communist Wife, Their Marvellous Lives, Wine Bar and Activism—Patrick BarringtonApril 6th, 2020|Country: Guyana, United Kingdom|How an art enthusiast helped us uncover a tremendous love story behind a striking self-portrait from Georgetown’s National Gallery of Art