Is My Living in Vain

Director: Ufuoma Essi

Year: 2024

Using Toni Morrison’s ‘The Site of Memory’ as a starting point for interrogation, HALF MEMORY is a languid meditation on memory, conurbations, isolation, and the histories we live among. Oscillating between years, cities, and unfolding images, the film is an examination of the present as an artefact of the past. Shot on Super8 and filmed between the US, France and the UK over a period of years. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2025

Director: Ufuoma Essi

Year: 2022

A meditative reflection on the absences found in rural pastoral environments, which are often framed by a false romanticism and picturesque conventions, constructed as tourist sites within rural landscapes across Britain.

Director: Rabie Mustapha

Year: 2026

In this participatory documentary, filmmaker Rabie Mustapha works with a group of children living in Northern Ireland to tell stories about their family life and cultural backgrounds. Despite the children’s globalised nature, they manage to bring in an insight to specific cultural journeys from Al-Nuba, Halab and the Northern Irish countryside. We see Maya, an inquisitive 9 year old girl whose hobby is to deliver shocking facts within a deadpan and to ask deep philosophical questions. Through an interview with her mom we learn about her Nubian heritage and a long history of generations displacement. Mahmoud and Khalid on the other hand are more calm and observant. Through their filmmaking journey we learn about their Syrian and Turkman heritage. With Mila we see the countryside of Limavady and learn about a more relaxed way of living where children are more connected to nature and where the girl’s artistic abilities are developing. Through this pluralistic film Northern Ireland is portrayed as a changing place with more than one face.