59th Ann Arbor Film Festival

BIPOC Experimental Animation

Expired April 1, 2021 4:00 AM
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Carrie Hawks believes in the magic of animation. There are stories that cannot be filmed in real-time with the camera, stories we don’t understand until days, years after they happen and are passed through generations. The artists in this program peer into layers of consciousness, create portraits without faces, detail the ways white supremacy attempts to oppress internally and externally, celebrate resistance to colonial forces, and present the tenderness of a personal archive (aka the voicemail). An escape from terror encapsulated via stop-motion puppetry. You’re invited to enjoy this experimental animation program of films crafted by people of the global majority, BIPOC folks. Curated by Carrie Hawks.


Carrie Hawks confronts self-imposed and external assumptions about identity in order to promote healing, particularly in relation to Blackness, gender, and queer sexuality. They work in animation, drawing, collage, sculpture, and performance, often incorporating humor. Their film black enuf* was nominated for a New York Emmy, won Best Documentary Short at Trans Stellar Film Festival, was broadcast on American Public Television’s World Channel in 2019, and screened at over 40 festivals including Ann Arbor and BlackStar.


Join us after the program for a prerecorded Q&A with the filmmakers.


Presented with support from Deb Greer

During the time of the Red Terror war in 1970s Ethiopia, the country’s political tyranny created a huge population of refugees searching for an escape. Based on a true story, Yene Fikir, Ethiopia (meaning “My Love, Ethiopia”) follows the turbulent and mystical journey of a young girl searching for freedom after being separated from her family. As she embarks on a painful migration through the scorching desert, magical guardian angels are sent to aid her by a mysterious and ancient Goddess in the skies, holding the secret to heal her homeland. With the presence of her angels and the power of her magical krar, she discovers hidden powers within herself that she was unaware of before.

  • Year
    2019
  • Runtime
    15 minutes
  • Country
    Ethiopia, United States
  • Note
    Ethiopia / United States
  • Filmmaker
    Gabrielle Tesfaye