Disrupting the Narrative: Changing Mindsets, Expanding Voices (15*) + Screentalk
London International Animation Festival
This year's programme shines a light on exciting British and international filmmakers who use animation to explore black, ethnically-diverse themes and multicultural societies today.
From award winning shorts (including this year’s Student Academy Award) to innovative breakthrough new talent, this year’s programme focuses on exciting British and international filmmakers who use a diverse range of live action and animation techniques to explore black, ethnically-diverse themes and how we live in multicultural societies around the world today.
Innovative storytelling combined with personal experience and experimental techniques take viewers deep into brave new worlds and the private lives of others; challenging cultural mindsets and making the invisible visible in complex worlds which are not always black & white, but rich with colour that make us question our biases and consider different points of views.
Disrupting the Narrative 2 (Changing Mindsets, Expanding Voices) was co-curated with Osbert Parker - BAFTA and Emmy nominated Director and Ambassador for FLAMIN at Film London.
There will be a panel discussion after the screening with some of the filmmakers whose films are screening - panel members will be announced soon.
Please note this programme contains scenes of violence (including brief documentary footage), racist imagery and racist language.
Please note the programme contains flashing images.
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Booking fees
£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.
No fee when tickets are booked in person.
Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.
ScreenTalk
CHAIR: Osbert Parker
Three times BAFTA nominated and award winning filmmaker Osbert Parker is perhaps best known for creating stories that use experimental and innovative film techniques. They often combine photo cut-out animation with objects and live action to create one-of-a-kind imaginary landscapes in mixed media short films, commercials, TV entertainment and online content. Emmy nominated in 2022 for Outstanding Main Title Design on Lisey's Story, his independent short animated films continue to receive acclaim on the international film festival circuit. Film Noir was nominated for best short animated film by BAFTA and won a Palme d'Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. Yours Truly was the best short animated film winner at the British Animation Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2008 and selected for Sundance. With 35 years experience of working in the creative industries, Osbert balances his freelance work with delivering masterclasses, seminars and running international animation workshops. Committed to helping new generations of filmmakers, Osbert is a Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a regular visiting animation lecturer at The National Film & Television School.
Gisela Mulindwa
Gisela Mulindwa is an experimental animator and visual artist based in London. A graduate in Animation from Edinburgh College of Art, her practice takes an experimental mixed media approach to animation, working between stop motion, collage, paint and film to create dense and complex textures. She challenges social expectations around identity to unravel the relationship between self, other and the unconscious, revealing a world shaped by magical realism. Mulindwa’s work has screened at festivals including the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Tricky Women Animation Festival, and she was commissioned to produce animations for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021 and 2022. Committed to challenging audience expectations of what animation can be, her work as an animator has led to theatre commissions, developing moving image alongside theatre design in projects at Theatre Peckham and Vault Festival.
Lisa Kenney
Born storyteller, proud northerner and Student Academy Award Winner, Lisa Kenney is a director/animator with something to say. With comedy at the core of her practice, she strives to tell authentic, grounded and gritty stories with integrity and wit – pushing the boundaries of what animation can be in a bid to represent characters that might not have gotten a look in otherwise. Since graduating from the National Film and Television School in March where she was awarded the accolade of Most Promising Student, Lisa has enjoyed several award wins on the festival circuit; including a student Oscar, a student BAFTA semi-finalist place and Best Animation at Sunderland Shorts Film Festival. She’s currently developing her first live action short for BBC Film – and has recently signed with LA based management company, The Gotham Group.
Robert-Jonathan Koeyers
Robert-Jonathan Koeyers (born in Curaçao) is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker. He studied animation at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam where he graduated with an experimental film titled Here: A Visual Poem, which served both as a dense collection of visual research, as well as an abstract and poetic telling of the work that he would continue to make. After receiving a Wildcard from the Netherlands Film Fund for his graduation film, he set out to write and direct his animated debut short film It’s Nice Here, which would go on to have a world premiere in Cannes and get shortlisted for an Academy Award. Throughout the years Robert-Jonathan has been using film, photography, animation, music, and other mediums to help turn his stories into deeply personal projects that aim to unpack how his Blackness has shaped and moulded him into the person he is, and aim to explore how the lived experiences of Black people can be told in an authentic and vulnerable way. Robert-Jonathan currently lives in Rotterdam where he continues to write and direct short films, and works as a tutor at the Willem de Kooning Academy.
Programme
Buzzing (uncut)
Buzzing basses and electronic squelches. A visual language made from colours, shapes and dynamism.
Costa Rica 2016 Dir: Jorge Mario Zuleta 2 min
It’s Nice in Here
A fragmented portrait of a moment, a person, and a place, seen through the subjective memories of a young Black girl and a rookie police officer who both have wildly different recollections of the same fateful moment in a corner store that will leave their lives altered forever.
Netherlands 2022 Dir: Robert-Jonathan Koeyers 16 min
By Water
An unlikely hero's journey into his own memories becomes a vehicle for reconciliation and healing for himself and his sibling.
USA 2023 Dir: Iyabo Kwayana 12 min
Discussing the Magical Negro
A conversation about the Magical Negro trope, a frequent representation of Black people on screen.
UK 2021 Dir: Gisela Mulindwa 2 min
The Vandal
Set in a world not unlike mid-20th century America, a man’s tormented search for peace from traumatic loss results in an unexpectedly destructive awakening after he undergoes a lobotomy.
USA 2021 Dir: Eddie Alcazar 16 min
Here
An experimental visual poem combining film, animation, photography, and archival footage inviting people to occupy the Black Body and examine the lived Black experience for a brief moment.
Netherlands 2018 Dir: Robert-Jonathan Koeyers 6 min
The Place I Like to Call
Collage, cut-out, stop-motion, digital and analogue techniques combine with tribal rhythms, chanting and dancing in a joyous love-letter to home.
UK 2023 Dir: Gisela Mulindwa 5 min
Holy Holocaust
A dark family secret from the past opens an abyss between two close friends: Jennifer, a German, discovers that she is the black granddaughter of a Notorious Nazi commander, and her life is turned upside down, while Noa, an Israeli, is doing whatever she can to prevent her life from turning.
Israel 2021 Dir: Osi Wald, Noa Berman-Herzberg 17 min
Mum's Spaghetti
Winner of the 2023 Student Academy Award. MC mastermind Poppy and her beatboxing border terrier Snoop are the new kids in town – and they’re ready to make their reputation known.
UK 2023 Dir: Lisa Kenney 11 min
See more film for less
Cinema 2
Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.
Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.
We’ve plenty of places for you to relax and replenish, from coffee and cake to wood-fired pizzas and full pre-theatre menus
Access
Level access from the Pit floor foyer only to the two boxes (see Mobility below). All other seats lead off stepped aisles.
Mobility
Two boxes at the rear of the auditorium each have space for one wheelchair user and a companion. Please book early and ask for these seats.
Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs may be taken into the cinema – please tell us when booking, to ensure your seat has enough space. If you prefer, you may leave your dog with a member of the foyer staff during the performance.
Hearing facility
There is an induction loop in the auditorium. You can use this by adjusting your hearing aid to the ‘T’ setting.
For more access information, please visit our Accessibility section.
