The Screen - Ganja & Hess

Sonic Textures, Shattered Scenes

A selection of landmark films by Black artists working in independent cinema in the 1970s-90s.

This season showcases truly groundbreaking cinema by artists and thinkers that expanded the ways the Black American experience could be represented, examined, and cherished. These are experimental, personal, and radical films by academics, musicians, poets, writers, actors, photographers, and visual artists who changed cinema forever. In turns thrilling, cerebral, and sensuous, this diverse programme of films spanning various genres are united by invoking the richness of the lives we live. In recent years many of these previously-overlooked films have been restored, and even re-cut, enabling new generations to see these films as they were originally intended.

Please note that many of the films in this season reflect historical attitudes that audiences may find outdated and offensive.

The season title is taken from the article Cosmic Freeze Frames: A Poetics of Bill Gunn by Carlos Valladares on gagosian.com (Spring 2021)

Film

An anthropologist, Hess, is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his assistant, rendering him immortal and into a vampire. The assistant’s wife, Ganja, comes searching for her missing husband, and she and Hess form an unexpected and intense bond. This avant-garde take on the vampire genre is a potent mix of African spirituality and mysticism that explores sexuality, desire, and death. Ganja & Hess was underrated and misunderstood on its release but is now considered a masterpiece.

For years Gunn’s version was unavailable and this edition represents the original release, restored by The Museum of Modern Art with support from Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, and mastered in HD from a 35mm negative.

Bill Gunn was a playwright, poet, actor, and novelist who directed three feature films. He sought to make films about the kinds of people and experiences he knew on his own terms, rather than seek to please the white critic or produce palatable images of what the Black man should be.

Access

This event is inclusive for wheelchair users; our building is wheelchair accessible with lift access to all floors. If you require a wheelchair space, please email info@nottinghamcontemporary.org or phone 0115 948 9750 so we can ensure a space is set up for you.

If you require a free ticket for a carer, please contact us using the details above to arrange this.

This event will take place in The Space. 

If you have any questions around access or have specific access requirements we can accommodate, please get in touch with us by emailing info@nottinghamcontemporary.org or phoning 0115 948 9750.