{"id":1635,"date":"2018-02-27T14:17:32","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T19:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/?p=1635"},"modified":"2019-03-01T18:44:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T18:44:02","slug":"rebirth-necessary-explores-blackness-mesmerizing-visuals-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/rebirth-necessary-explores-blackness-mesmerizing-visuals-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Rebirth Is Necessary\u2019 Explores Blackness Through Mesmerizing Visuals And Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vemJFbayDrM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" src=\"about:blank\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nigerian-British filmmaker Jenn Nkiru\u2019s short film <em>Rebirth Is Necessary <\/em>is an enthralling work of art. As part of NOWNESS\u2019 Black Star series, the series gave rising directors, such as Nkiru, an opportunity to demonstrate Afrofuturism through their own personal lenses. As the final film in the series, Nkiru leaves us with an array of emotions, as art should. Rich in culture, we are left with a profound sense of passion and joy about what it ultimately means to experience blackness, the resilience of our people, and the magic that fills our spirit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was thinking about so much while making <em>Rebirth Is Necessary<\/em>\u2014the summation of my loaded feelings and questions over the last few years. I was thinking about black people, the black experience\u2014which is my constant\u2014and the idea of black universality,&#8221; Nkiru explains to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nowness.com\/series\/black-star\/rebirth-is-necessary-jenn-nkiru\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NOWNESS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">\u00a0&#8220;Creating this piece felt like therapy. It&#8217;s where I got to reconcile my worlds\u2014the material and the spiritual, the human and divine. This film is jazz; black magic in motion. I hope it can be a source of inspiration, affirmation and healing to others as it has been to me, especially the black diaspora.&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1646 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/still2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"394\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/still2.jpg 550w, https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/still2-300x215.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Through archival footage spanning across generations, expressive portraits across the Diaspora, and wise words from the greats, <em>Rebirth Is Necessary <\/em>allows us to travel back in time while simultaneously becoming aware of the future of blackness\u2013all within eight minutes. Featuring hauntingly beautiful voiceovers from Afrofuturism pioneer Sun Ra, and the poetry of James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and more, the eight-minute short is not only visually stunning, but also thought provoking. At times, even hypnotizing. The footage captures you, reels you in, only to swiftly redirect your attention to another dreamlike segment. And that\u2019s the ethereal magic of Nkiru\u2019s work. Although everything quickly fades, we\u2019re still left with mighty feelings of pride, happiness, and hope for the past, present, and future. Above, experience the art that is\u00a0<em>Rebirth Is Necessary<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about Jenn Nkiru and her work, visit her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jennnkiru.com\/MXMcZ\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Nigerian-British filmmaker Jenn Nkiru\u2019s short film Rebirth Is Necessary is an enthralling work of art. As part of NOWNESS\u2019 Black Star series, the series gave rising directors, such as Nkiru, an opportunity to demonstrate Afrofuturism through their own personal lenses. As the final film in the series, Nkiru leaves us with an array of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,173,179],"tags":[67,31,68],"class_list":["post-1635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-film-tv","category-reviews","tag-afrofuturism","tag-featured","tag-short-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}