A play in black & white (2022)
17.5 minutes, Super 8 to HD, black & white

A few years ago after I told my baba that no, I would not get him a set of golf clubs for father’s day, he asked if I would instead “make a film dedicated to me, about me, starring me.” So, for his 70th birthday, I dedicate this film to him, which is about him, and starring him. Built around a roll of home movie footage of us playing backgammon in his garage while listening to dabke and drinking, the film elaborates on aspects of the game–black and white, symmetry and patterns, rules and chance.

The film was co-commissioned by Canal180, Culturgest, and gnration in Portugal for their project Jogo Cruzado, in which “original audiovisual works made in artistic sequence will be shown on TV and online”. After completing my film, a score was commissioned for it by the music duo Matmos.

The project is described thus: “We want to show how narratives influence others, how sounds and images are combined, how artists continue the creative flow of other artists in a collaboration made in two times, in total belief for the final result. Along the way, we are confronted with a cross artistic game that challenges us to find our place as spectators within the process itself. What comes first, how do we separate images and sounds, which narrative prevails, how do we dive into the dramaturgy that magically joins the other two, is there really a first and second stage?”

It was premiered on TV and online on Sunday, November 23, 2022 at 21:00 GMT. More information about the project can be found online here.