The film industry is a tough one, impossible to crack, crowded and filled with talented and inspiring individuals. Yet strangely the material that makes it onto our screens is formulaic , uninspiring and in most cases in Australia it is not very diverse.
It was a breath of fresh air to stumble upon Nikyatu Jusu late last year after an intense search on Google for material to screen in the African Film Festival Australia. Jusu, an American born to Sierra Leonean parents is a graduate of the prestigious NYU Tisch School of Arts.
Her short films African Booty Scratcher, Say Grace before Drowning and Black Swan Theory question, decode and challenge what it means to be African, Black and female. Her films are bold, hard hitting and sometimes unnerving.
I was particularly blown away with Say Grace Before Drowning. What I appreciated about Say Grace Before Drowning, a short film that follows a young Sierra Leonean girl who meets her traumatized mother for the first time in many years after the Sierra Leonean conflict, was the subtlety and delicacy. Viewing films dealing with African conflicts after a while it almost becomes like viewing war pornography. It is as if the film makers are competing with each other who can show the most violence, the most brutality and completely dehumanize the people in the process.
Jusu definitely exemplifies the new breed of Afro-Creative that are global in their outlook but explore African stories within a local perspective. So instead of vague narratives about the continent as a whole, Jusu’s films give you a slice forcing you to question your own assumptions about Africa and its people both on the continent and the diaspora.
Reading up on her, you strongly get the sense of a young woman determined to take on the film industry, a woman sure of herself and her talent. More importantly, Jusu is the kind of creative individual that you sincerely want EVERYBODY to know. Frankly, I am going to make sure that everyone in Australia does.
Watching Jusu films is like being punched in the stomach. Yet you want more.
IMAGE SOURCE: AFRICA STYLE DAILY
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