Doors 7:30p
Program 8:00p

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

In whatever manner we survive, we do not do so alone. Our lives reflect the lives of others with whom our fates are imbricated. We have collected, here, films that rejoice in the capacity we have to affect each other and the tendency we share to lean upon one another.

UnionDocs is delighted to join hands with the Center for Afrofuturist Studies to present a collection of films from an incredible lineup of filmmakers! Come through to tune into work from Onyeka Igwe, Nateya Taylor, Aryel René Jackson, Akwi Nji, Makabi Johanna and Trevon Jakaar!

ORDINARY SURVIVAL is a hybrid film festival featuring work by over 20 exceptional filmmakers around themes and images of survival which ground futurism in everyday triumphs and struggles.

Note: If you’ve purchase an Ordinary Survival festival pass, you can attend this UnionDocs screening for free. If not, you can grab an UNDO ticket! Festival-goers can also attend in-person screenings in St. Louis, Brooklyn, and Iowa City. Proceeds from the festival support the Center for Afrofuturist Studies’ artist residencies and programming.

Program

The Miracle on George Green by Onyeka Igwe

12 mins, 2022

The Good Land by Nateya Taylor

19 mins, 2023

A Welcoming Place by Aryel René Jackson

29 mins, 2022

cor·re·spond·ence by Akwi Nji

20 mins, 2023

A Laundry Day by Makabi Johanna

5 mins, 2022

My Imagined Nations by Trevon Jakaar

17 mins, 2022

Program Duration: mins

Bios

Onyeka Igwe (b. London, England) lives and works in London, England. Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions and screenings at LUX, London, England (2021); Mercer Union, Toronto, Canada (2021); and Jerwood Arts, London, England (2019). Her video works have been screened at institutions and festivals including KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany (2020); London Film Festival, London, England (2020 and2015); Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2020, 2019, and 2018); CC Matienzo, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2019); Smithsonian African American Film Festival, Washington, DC (2018); The Showroom, London, England, (2018); Institute of Contemporary Arts: ICA, London, England (2017); and Edinburgh Artist Moving Image, Edinburgh, Scotland (2016). She has been featured in major international presentations including the Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2020); and Berlin Biennale, Germany (2018). She was awarded the 2020 Arts Foundation Futures Award for Experimental Short Film and the 2019 Berwick New Cinema Award.

Aryel “Ariel” René Jackson is a multi and interdisciplinary artist storyteller. Through film and installation, their process incorporates tenets of play and magic into a filmmaking practice. With an interest in agriculture and meteorology, Jackson appropriates tools through sculpture and performance, and creates mixed media using found objects, stills and organic material.

Jackson is an alum of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, The University of Texas at Austin, Royal College of Art Exchange Program, and The Cooper Union. Their work has been shown nationally  and internationally at various galleries and institutions such as The Contemporary Austin, Jones Center (2023); the Digital Arts Resource Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada (2022); the Dallas Contemporary (2021); Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle (2021); Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans (2018); Depaul Art Museum, Chicago (2018); Rhode Island School of Design Museum (2017); and Studio Museum in Harlem (2016).

Akwi Nji is an Iowa-based interdisciplinary artist creating in words, performance, and visual art. She specializes in creative personal narrative storytelling across artistic mediums and through producing and curating community-focused arts programming. Her work and words have appeared on stage from California’s Wine Country to New York’s Fashion Week.
Her art serves as manifestations of her exploration of race, gender, tensions between the ‘outsider’ and ‘insider’, and concepts of spiritual and geographic home. As a writer, voice artist, performer, and producer her collaborative partners include Emmy-award winning composers and nationally-renowned dancers and choreographers. She produces alternative arts experiences through Threshold Gallery, with a mission to support women artists and artists of color in the Midwest. She is also creator of The Remoir Project, a nationwide audio and visual storytelling arts initiative.

Born and raised in Paris from Senegalese and Congolese parents, Makabi Johanna is a filmmaker, writer and producer. She also worked as an assistant on feature films such as Cuties by Maïmouna Doucouré and Winter Boy by Christophe Honoré. She was elected member of the board of Le Collectif 50/50 aiming for more equity and diversity in French cinema.

Trevon Jakaar Coleman began his artistic career as a caricaturist, with over a decade in the tourist capital of the world (Orlando, FL). In 2019 Trevon received dual degrees: Studio Art BFA and Film Production BFA, from the University of Central Florida. Trevon works in a variety of media: drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and film. When we are able to leave our own understanding, we can engage and connect with others. Trevon blends formal exploration and alienation theory to distance the audience and create space for introspection. Trevon now attends University of Iowa, as a Film and Video Production MFA candidate.