Republik Repair Film

Black Bullets was recorded at a mountaintop citadel in Haiti, the largest in the Americas and built after the rebellion as a defensive measure for the new state. To this day, the citadel stands as a symbol of the emancipation. A series of black figures move in a looping sequence across the silvery sky to the pulse of a heavy, hypnotic drone-like sound. Unlike the figures in some of Jeannette Ehlers’ other works in the exhibition, the subjects have not been erased here. On the contrary, they are united with their reflected images, merging with them, almost like bullets gradually being cast.

How do you Talk about Three Hundred Years in Four Minutes?

This subtle video work on departure, uprootedness, longing and isolation takes its title from Lorraine Hansberry, the first Black dramatist whose plays were shown on Broadway. She worked closely with Paul Robeson, who was known for his interpretation of the song Ol’ Man River. This classic is sung here by Jeannette Ehlers’ father, Roy Clement Pollard. The former singer was born as a descendant of African slaves in the Caribbean and moved to Europe from Trinidad as a young man. Jeannette Ehlers’ video coves personal and historical topics, but also complex questions about identity, heritage and freedom fights.

Black Bullets (4:33 min, 2012);

How do you Talk about Three Hundred Years in Four Minutes? (4 min, 2014)