Module 5
As the films and readings gathered here have suggested, colonialism’s totality is never the final word. Further, while the force of gender normativity is indeed deadly, that many live against its fantasies is proof of the system’s fragility. Visual culture in general, and film/video specifically remain a transfer point where dominant views of the world are made ordinary but like all images, they too can be undone. The work, it seems, of radical trans cinema that understand its antagonism as both binary gender but also the colonial system that undergirds it is to demystify these forces of harm while also offering us something beyond them.
Study
Watch the clip Trinh T. Minh-ha “Just Speak Nearby: The Politics & Practices of Art Writing”
Adedamola Adedayo, “Beyond Convention: The Anatomy of Gender Expression in Ajay Abalaka’s “Girl-Boy”
Lindsey B. Green-Simms, “Registering Resistance in Queer African Cinemas”
Raed Rafei “Towards Other Forms of Queer Visibility”
Discussion
What are some of the formal and narrative tactics of disruptions that Ajay Abalaka used in their film “Girl-Boy”?
How did the film’s multi-tonal visuality make you feel?
What did the film's use of still photos, video footage, and animation allow for that more traditional formats might not?
What are some of the “other forms” that Rafei talks about?
Can you use that idea and apply it to an example from your life?