F*cked Like a Star
Edited by:
Directed by:
Stefani Saintonge
(Information)
(Information)
Macro-lensing of Black women from Haiti and New Orleans doing skillful work – braiding hair, crushing spices, threading fabric – is superimposed onto the work of soldier ants to visually manifest in four stanzas the mythology of their queen. Saintonge and Obi use repetition – braid, grind, sew, braid, grind sew – to move their audience beyond just a dismissive glance at the mundane. Amidst specks of light, the cameras (generally used to capture the macroscopic details of a flower, an ant) allow for an intense intimacy with these women. We are able to see what the eye normally cannot, the texture of a collective, concerted, coordinated grind. This new sight compels us not just to look, but to really feel the focus and the majestic will, way and work of a sacrifice complete.
Macro-lensing of Black women from Haiti and New Orleans doing skillful work – braiding hair, crushing spices, threading fabric – is superimposed onto the work of soldier ants to visually manifest in four stanzas the mythology of their queen. Saintonge and Obi use repetition – braid, grind, sew, braid, grind sew – to move their audience beyond just a dismissive glance at the mundane. Amidst specks of light, the cameras (generally used to capture the macroscopic details of a flower, an ant) allow for an intense intimacy with these women. We are able to see what the eye normally cannot, the texture of a collective, concerted, coordinated grind. This new sight compels us not just to look, but to really feel the focus and the majestic will, way and work of a sacrifice complete.