A programme of shorts which journey through VRChat, inner city London and colonial histories to expand our understanding of how we can connect to others and ourselves.

How do we build new, supportive and healthy communities between us? How do we understand our current positions in regard to our shared and personal histories? Hoping to answer these questions, LSFF presents a mix of artist and observational documentary filmmaking including works from Onyeke Igwe (No Dance, No Palaver). Programmed by Miranda Mungai. 93’

Films:

A WIDER SCREEN
Joe Hunting 13 mins (UK, 2019)
An intimate insight into how virtual reality (VR) is affecting peoples social lives for the better. 70% of the film is shot within VRChat, a VR social platform that allows users to create their own worlds and avatars.

SPRING FEVER
Anna Snowball 9 mins (UK, 2019)
In the Netherlands, sex education is done differently, as a group of pre-teens from Amsterdam have a candid conversations about their changing bodies with an inspiring teacher. This isn’t just a sex ed class, this is an anti-shame class.

MOTHERLAND
Tracey Lopes / Alicia Quayson 3 mins (UK, 2019)
A mother recounts her experience of growing up in Congo; an experience which shaped her as a woman, defined her as a mother and established deep-rooted family values.

MATA NE
Christina Sayaka Kerber 15 mins (CH, 2019)
The filmmaker travels to her second home, Okinawa, Japan, where she and her mother visit her grandmother as part of a visit that becomes both a reunion and a farewell.

THE YELLOW MAZDA AND HIS HOLINESS
Sandra Heremans 11 mins (BE, 2018)
A conceptual experiment on what it means to start a film with a black image, developing into a subtle personal essay about the filmmaker. The story of a missionary falling in love with a Rwandese girl, blends with what images and colonial history mean to their daughter.

THE CIRCLE
Lanre Malaolu 16 mins (UK, 2019)
The Circle is a bold and lyrical portrayal of two brothers from inner city London, and the challenges they face daily, interpreted through dance.

THE NAMES HAVE CHANGED, INCLUDING MY OWN AND TRUTHS HAVE BEEN ALTERED
Onyeka Igwe 26 mins (UK, 2019)
Bringing together three interconnected narratives – a story of the artists’ grandfather, one of ‘the land’, and another detailing an encounter with Nigeria – which the film attempts to tell in as many ways as possible.