Where We Meet
Synopsis: Where We Meet is an experimental film exploring the Black femme body and its relationship to space through conscious movement on the unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam people. The story follows our protagonist as they navigate isolation and seek a sense of belonging in a conflicting and new environment. Drawing on themes of double consciousness and experimental embodiment, this story explores the relationship between Blackness and the environment in which this concept exists. Drawing from community dialogue to address the filmmakers’ own subjective relationship to public space as mixed race Black identifying people, this film intends to hold space for diverse experiences of Blackness in so called “Vancouver”. In times where racial politics exist in every crevice of society, the filmmakers escape temporal confines by decolonizing our situated experience, delving into the untold past, dreamy memories and future imaginings. The creation of this film was supported by the 2020 F-O-R-M Commissioning Funds, in partnership with Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society, and Charles st. Video (Toronto). We would like to thank the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia, and the City of Vancouver.
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Year: 2020
Duration: 15:10
Directors: Karmella cen Benedito De Barros and Lexi Mellish-Mingo
Dancers: Lexi Mellish-Mingo, Janessa St. Pierre, and Kafiya Mudey
Interviewees: Felix-Marie Badeau, Chelene Knigh and Rubie Smith Díaz
Bios
Karmella Benedito de Barros is a tired 2S afro-brazilian & mistawasis nêhiyawak plant lover, youth worker, community weaver, sporadic artist and collaborative organizer. they are a co-founder of the art ecosystem collective and member of the indigenous brilliance collective. born and raised in diaspora as an uninvited guest on stolen & unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territories, karmella’s practice is informed by the land, displacement and a desire to heal through perennial creative dialogue ~ cultivating a sense of connection and belonging.
Lexi Mellish Mingo (she/they) is an artist and community worker on unceded and unsurrendered MST territories. Their work strives to generate liberatory joy through art, community care, celebration, and unbound expression. They are a songwriter, musician (@apoca.lilex), visual artist, and future filmmaker. Lexi follows the work of art-based movement leaders before her, weaving artistry into their work as a youth programmer, community member, friend, and family member.
Janessa St. Pierre, a Black, Queer filmmaker, has built a versatile career in the Vancouver film industry. Living on the unceded lands of the xÊ·mÉ™θkwÉ™yÌ“É™m, Skwxwú7mesh, and SÉ™lílwÌ“ É™taÊ”/Selilwitulh Nations, she honed her craft at Capilano University, earning a diploma in Motion Picture Arts in 2017 after initial studies at Concordia University. Janessa has worked in various roles, from Production Designer to Director’s Assistant for Mimi Cave. She earned a writing credit for the award-winning short, Think Again, produced during her tenure at Capilano. Now emerging as a Director, her short film Hair or No Hair, part of the Black Creators Edition Grant, has garnered two awards and a nomination for “Best Short” at the Micheaux Film Festival. Janessa’s portfolio spans Shorts, Features, Music Videos, and Commercials, including acclaimed projects like “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open” and “FRESH”.