VMFAF curated a series of artists talks, screenings, class visits and community meetings in Rome, Italy and Chicago, Illinois for two queer filmmakers, Kristina Valada-Viars and Echaka Agba, co-Creators/Directors/Producers who presented their collaborative work to the public: “(Coordinate 1) The Root: Looking For Ancestors In My Fathers Garden” and “(Coordinate 2) The Bloom” (work in progress) from their collection “Where Could We Go: A Map Of Finding Home” (www.wherecouldwegoseries.com).
2021
– John Cabot University, Aula Magna, Rome, Italy, Monday, October 18. Artist talk and screening. Presented byProf. Marco G. Ferrari, Department of Communications in collaboration with JCU’s student clubs—Africans in the World Cultural Club & Queer Alliance. https://news.johncabot.edu/2021/11/echaka-agba-and-kristina-valada-viars/
– John Cabot University, Rome, Italy, October 19, 2021. COM 342–– Experimental Film class discussion and workshop. Presented by Prof. Marco G. Ferrari, Department of Communications in collaboration with JCU’s student clubs—Africans in the World Cultural Club & Queer Alliance.
– NoWorking Collective, October 23, 2021, Rome, Italy. Artist talk, screening and dinner. Introduction by Marco G. Ferrari https://www.instagram.com/noworkingcollective/ ; https://stalkerlab.wixsite.com/spontaneamente/about-4
– Nuovo Cinema Aquila, Rome, Italy, October 27, 2021. Artist talk and screening. Part of XIª edizione di Logos—Festa della Parola. Organized by Marco G. Ferrari. https://www.facebook.com/events/3027947360788276/3027947370788275/?active_tab=about
– “Transfemminonda 3.04 – Dove Potremmo Andare: Una mappa per trovare casa, una conversazione con Echaka Agba e Kristina Valada-Viars”. Radio interview, October 30, 2021. Organized by Marco G. Ferrari. https://radiosonar.net/podcast/transfemminonda-3-04-dove-potremmo-andare/
2023
– MFA student studio visits, Department of Visual Arts, University of Chicago, February 23, 2023. Organized by Marco G. Ferrari with support of the Cinema and Media Studies and the Open Practice Committee in the Department of Visual Arts.
– Cinema and Media Studies, Documentary Production II student film rough cut critique session, February 24, 2023. Organized by Marco G. Ferrari with support of the Cinema and Media Studies and the Open Practice Committee in the Department of Visual Arts.
– The Root & The Bloom: Where Could We Go—A Map of Finding Home with Echaka Agba and Kristina Valada-Viars in conversation with Marco G. Ferrari, Film Studies Center, Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago, Illinois, February 24, 2023, presented by the Department of Cinema and Media Studies and the Film Studies Center with support from the Open Practice Committee in the Department of Visual Arts. https://dova.uchicago.edu/events/root-bloomwhere-could-we-go-map-finding-home ; https://events.uchicago.edu/arts/event/193890-the-root-the-bloom-where-could-we-goa-map-of
The Root (Coordinate 1) is a meditation on family meant to begin ongoing conversations outside of the details of daily life. It is the first film in a series made by the filmmakers as they seek and dream a home that prioritizes Black and Queer Liberation. Filmmakers Echaka Agba and Kristina Valada-Viars, partners in life and creativity, travel from their home in Chicago to Agba’s family home for a series of conversations around the concept of home with the elder members of their family now living in the American Midwest. Seeking information about relatives she never met, in a series of family gatherings and formal conversations in the summer of 2020, Echaka asks the adults who raised her about memories, values, and challenges in their path from Nigeria to the home they have built in rural Indiana. Made with a crew of two and prioritizing models of consent in documentary filmmaking, the filmmakers refuse to turn the lives of loved ones into a series of events that form a plot but rather focus on the sacred space created between loved ones when the stories kept close to the heart over the course of a lifetime are shared and time is taken to listen. Official selection for the Black X Film Festival (2021) and Afrikana Independent Film Festival (2021). It was made possible by the generous support of The Derek Freese Foundation.
The Bloom (Coordinate 2) is the second film in the experimental short film collection, Where Could We Go: A Map Of Finding Home, co-created by partners in life and creativity Echaka Agba and Kristina Valada-Viars. Part road trip and part experimental personal narrative, this short doc invites the audience to explore the meaning of Home alongside the filmmakers and their family. Festival Selections for The Bloom (Coordinate 2): Afrikana Independent Film Festival (US Premiere, Fall 2022), NewFest (New York State Premiere, Fall 2022).
Director’s Statement: We made this film to create opportunities for conversation around what true connection and liberation could mean. We believe our self-expression and artistic vulnerability provides an opportunity to close the distance between many cultures in celebrating our diversity and recognizing commonalities in our human experience as we nurture our gardens in the home we all share, Earth. We prioritize consent with our collaborators and seek to highlight the tenderness that exists in thoughtful exchange. We are making these films so that those that come after us have a map of our hopes and effort to make the world more readily available to connections with each other, our families, the earth, and the communities we build. We hope that the time spent with these films gives opportunities to close a distance, to recognize the familiar in moments of tenderness and joy in lives that have been historically represented to highlight difference.
Biographies:
Echaka Agba (she/her) is a multiple award winning theatre, film, and television artist. In front of the camera, she has appeared on several network and cable programs including Work In Progress and The Chi (Showtime), Chicago Med (NBC), and The Red Line (CBS). Dedicated to serving and collaborating with artists based in Chicago, Echaka is a member of the Mezcla Media Collective (Chicago, IL) and is a teaching fellow at Acting Studio of Chicago. She is a member of the Sundance Collab Institute.
Kristina Valada-Viars (she/they) is a writer, director, actor, and producer working to foster artist-led exchange with communities outside of traditional commercial art circuit cities. She received the Princess Grace Award for Theatre and a fellowship in acting and directing at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. She has performed and directed various theatrical work in New York and Chicago. She is a member of the Chicago Green Theatre Alliance. She served as a member of the Grand Jury for the Iris Prize LGBTQ short film festival in Cardiff, Wales (2012). Her work has been selected by WickedQueer (2021, Boston), Scario Short Film Festival (2021), Atlanta International Screenplay Awards (2021) and as a finalist for the SF Indie Fest Screenplay Competition (2021).
Press
– Artist Statement-Ita/Eng
– RadioSonar, 10/30/2021
– John Cabot University, 11/12/2021
– University of Chicago, 02/24/2023
