ALL FRUITS RIPE at Trauma Bar & Kino

Article by Faye Campbell // Nov. 26, 2019

‘ALL FRUITS RIPE’, an event series highlighting works by and for BIPOC filmmakers and considering LGBTQ* topics and themes, will launch its inaugural event on November 27th at Trauma Bar & Kino. The title originates from the Jamaican Patois expression “All is well” and aims to underline the work created by those across marginalized, socio-political intersections.

Image Courtesy of ALL FRUITS RIPE

This year’s selection of films by Berlin-based artists includes ‘Home?’ by Elliot Blue, ‘In Hot Time’ by Leah Solomon and Jesús Hilario-Reyes, ‘The Morning After Love’ by Candice Nembhard and ‘House of Living Colors’ by Katrina Singleton. The films explore black queer relationships, a profile on Berlin’s first BPOC-based drag house, Germany’s colonial history and the convergence of black traditions and rituals.

‘Home’ by Elliot Blue follows an Afro-German young adult in their search for home, asking: “what is home when you look different?” ‘The Morning After Love’ is a cinepoetry project by writer, performance artist and poet, Candice Nembhard, which explores the moments after a short affair, where the two lovers discuss whether there truly is love after lust. ‘In Hot Time’ by Leah Solomon and Jesús Hilario-Reyes brings together black diasporic traditions, pasts and reimaginings, using the whirlwind as a symbolic tool. The artists bring together various sounds–electronic, industrial and atmospheric–from across the diaspora and converge elements of dance, performance, text and archival footage. ‘House of Living Colors’ by Katrina Singleton is a portrait of Berlin’s first BPOC drag collective, blending together footage of rehearsals, interviews and performance.

Katrina Singleton: ‘House of Living Colors’, 2018, Film Still // Image courtesy of Katrina Singleton

The event will be followed by a panel discussion, considering the purpose of the selected films, Berlin and its impact on queer BIPOC and their creative processes and the need for BIPOC and LGBTQ* representation in digital media and archives. The event will be moderated by ALL FRUITS RIPE founder Candice Nembhard.

Additionally, ALL FRUITS RIPE x be’kech Soli will take place on November 29th as a follow-up event at be’kech, in solidarity with Afro-German poet and interdisciplinary artist Esther Kondo. The films presented on this night include ‘Moxn’ by Poliana Baumgarten and ‘THIS IS FOR US’ by Shanel Edwards, as well as a repeat of Nembhard’s film, and will discuss the relationship of the body and gender to the moon, the cruciality of black communities and black and queer relationships. The event will be donation-based and all proceeds will go towards Kondo’s GoFundMe campaign, towards securing her school fees at Oxford University.