BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

Directed by Kahlil Joseph
United States
2025
113 mins

Synopsis

In this genre-defying work by renowned video artist Kahlil Joseph, Black history blends with Afro-futurism in a centuries-spanning hybrid. Sundance, Berlinale 2025.

Known for his collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, Joseph in his latest piece takes inspiration from the Encyclopedia Africana, a sprawling compendium of African history, art and culture. In an alternate future, a host of characters board the transatlantic liner The Nautica, a biennial at sea, where they’ll experience the star attraction, The Resonant Field. This sonic installation echoes the Black collective memory from the seabed below, memorialising lives lost to the Atlantic slave trade. Structured like a mixtape, Joseph’s episodic film layers archival material with social media and YouTube samples, weaving personal and political history. The bold vision of BLKNWS is cerebral, transgressive and even playful.

Sessions at Sydney Opera House are available for SFF Flexipass redeems only until 12pm Friday 6th June. Please see our Terms & Conditions for full details.

Limited seats are available for patrons requiring access for wheelchairs, low vision and hearing loop. Please contact our ticketing team directly on 1300 733 733 or tickets@sff.org.au to complete your booking.

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions combines footage from across a vast spectrum of thought, experience and influence, creating formally audacious montages that are thought-provoking and soul-stirring all at once
Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

Tickets

Fri 6 June 2025, 8:15pm
Dendy Newtown - Cinema 1
WheelchairAssisted Listening
Sun 8 June 2025, 5:45pm
Sydney Opera House Playhouse
WheelchairAssisted Listening
  • Program Strand
  • Year
    2025
  • Classification
    Unclassified 18+
  • Country
    USA
  • Language
    In English
  • Director
    Kahlil Joseph
  • Producer
    Onye Anyanwu, Kahlil Joseph, Amy Greenleaf, Nic Gonda
  • Cast
    Shaunette Renée Wilson, Kaneza Schaal, Hope Giselle
  • Screenwriter
    Kahlil Joseph, Saidiya Hartman, Irvin Hunt, Madebo Fatunde, Kristen Adele Calhoun, Onye Anyanwu
  • Cinematographer
    Bradford Young
  • Editor
    Luke Lynch, Paul Rogers, Kahlil Joseph
  • Genre
  • Premiere
    Australian Premiere
  • Company Credits
    Sales Agent: Rich Spirit
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Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

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