bridge/refrain
synopsis:
A young woman arrives in the land of the ancestors. Here, she discovers that though there is healing for her wounds and safety in the arms of benevolent beings, her work is far from done. A beautiful antique vanity serves as a vehicle through which she discovers her charge and her crown: black bodies, buckling, but not breaking under the weight of american life. She takes her place amongst those who uphold us. The Crowned Ones. death is but a bridge. a refrain. there is more work to be done, now.
Commissioned by CMA as a part of its Women + Innovation series, bridge/refrain seeks to honor the feminine energy as both protector and nurturer, while confronting the epidemic of all manner of violence against women. In the tradition of Cunningham, the film honors the woman’s form with a graceful eye, lensed by collaborator, Iyabo Kwayana.
***the title:
a bridge in a song signals that we are almost at the song’s end, but not yet there. it’s often very dynamic musically and lyrically and launches you toward a conclusion. i believe Stevie to be the master of the bridge/refrain.
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credits
direction: roni nicole henderson
cinematography: iyabo kwayana
production design + industrial masks: venecia nahai
wooden masks + set dec: tellis dee johnson
co producer +music supervisor: cedric umoja
co producer + 1st ac: seth gadsden
gaffer + key grip: Gerald Gripp Richardson
set photographer + camera assist: larry james frazier iii
makeup + hair: olamma oparah
director's assistance: brienne guirantes
lighting assist: Sean Cokes
grip: bryan boulware
set pa's: adrian williams + elijah spencer
CAST
Joli Noire
Venecia Running Wolf
Tellis Dee Johnson
Robin Throbbin
Tonisha Technikohler Cameron
Tammaka Staley
Amada Torruella
Kei Yvonne
Dogon Krigga
Thomas Washington
Ariel Flowers
Inaya Onley
Asia Ca
Cedric Umoja
Film made possible by a commission from the Columbia Museum of Art.
