Sunday, January 28, 4:00pm
Location: North Garden Theater - 929 Seventh Street West, Saint Paul, MN
The film screening will be followed by a conversation with Tunde Olaniran about the intersection of art and climate justice.
About the film
Musician, artist, and filmmaker Tunde Olaniran’s debut short film Made a Universe combines science fiction and social realism, and tropes from horror movies and TikTok videos to comment on serious issues such as environmental injustice and the carceral state. The 30-minute film examines what it means to unlock your power in the face of fear and repression, and how one must unify various fragments of their psyche to connect with the world and themselves on a deeper level.
Artist Bio
Tunde Olaniran is an artist based in Flint, MI, whose work spans the worlds of music, dance, film, literature and performance art, exploring themes of Blackness, gender expression, class, agency, and psychic/emotional power.
Their debut and sophomore albums led to critical praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, NPR, The New Yorker and countless others. They have produced globally-impactful work in collaboration with many artists including Mona Haydar, adrienne maree brown, Nick Cave, Esperanza Spalding, and Yo-Yo Ma.
Olaniran is a 2017 Art Matters Fellow, 2019 United States Artist Fellow, and 2020 University of Michigan Artist-in-Residence. Tunde’s work for PBS won a 2021 Regional Emmy. In 2022, they created an experimental short film/exhibition entitled Made a Universe (as well as a companion performance installation entitled Everything is a Portal) in 2022, commissioned by Cranbrook Art Museum, with support from John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts. They were lead producer for Walk with Amal's 2023 activation in Flint, MI. Their third album, Chaotic Good, is due in early 2024.
Related event: Join Tunde Olaniran for a concert of genre-bending blend of pop, soul, and experimental electronic sounds Sat, Jan 27 at Amsterdam Bar & Hall. Learn more here.
This activity is supported, in part, by the City of Saint Paul Cultural Sales Tax Revitalization Program.
About The Great Northern | Jan 25–Feb 4, 2024
The Great Northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through diverse programming that invigorates mind and body in late January and early February. In an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, we seek to create community, inspire action, and share the resilient spirit of the North with the world.
About MSP Film
The films are curated by the MSP Film, whose mission is to inform and transform individuals and communities through the power of great cinema. MSP Film has spent the last six decades celebrating a myriad of cultures, countries and issues of collective local and global concern through film, believing in the potency of storytelling to move people, and to move people to action. Our widely recognized Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Cine Latino, or daily screenings at The Main Cinema represent a diversity of perspectives and 100+ cultures and countries each year, providing unique platforms for learning and action through film and conversation.