Many Thousands Gone

Showing In

Juror Presentation: Ephraim Asili's Diaspora Suite
Screening Room - Michigan Theater Thu, Mar 22, 2018 1:00 PM
“Asili has concluded a five-part film suite that examines the African diaspora through a series of immeasurable equations: America and abroad (with films shot in Ghana and Ethiopia, as well as Brazil, Jamaica, and Canada); personal and collective history; the past and the present; imaginations and realities; and image and sound. Abandoning digital video for 16mm, Asili has developed his documentary impulse into something more spontaneous and musical, his eye attuned to the unexpected rhythms afforded by montage.” – Jesse Cumming, Cinema Scope
Film Info
Event Type:Juror Presentation: Ephraim Asili's Diaspora Suite
Release Year:2015
Production Country:USA
Cast/Crew Info
Director:Ephraim Asili

Description

Filmed on location in Salvador, Brazil (the last city in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw slavery) and Harlem, New York (an international stronghold of the African diaspora), Many Thousands Gone draws parallels between a summer afternoon on the streets of the two cities. A silent version of the film was given to jazz multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee to use as an interpretive score. The final film is the combination of the images and McPhee’s real time “sight reading” of the score.