Project Detail

Is My Living in Vain

Synopsis

A meditation on the continuing history and emancipatory potential of the Black church as a space of diasporic belonging, affirmation and community organising. The film examines churches as spaces of 'infrapolitics' by exploring the sonic, political, spiritual and existential connections between specific communities.
Official Selection Black Star Film Festival 2023
Official Selection Hot Docs Festival 2023
Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2024

Details

Year
2023
Type of film
Shorts
Running time
40 min
Format
16mm
Director
Ufuoma Essi
Producer
Ufuoma Essi, Leah McGurk, Artina Michelle
Editor
Ufuoma Essi
Director of Photography
Cheryl Hess, Morgan Spencer
Sound
Ines Adriana

Production Status

Production Company

New Zealand, UK, France co-production

A Gasworks (UK) co-production with Te Uru Waitkere Contemporary Gallery (New Zealand), Le Magasin CNAC (Centre National d'Art Contemporain) (France)

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Pastoral Malaise Pastoral Malaise

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.

Spacewoman Spacewoman

Director: Hannah Berryman

Year: 2024

A landmark feature documentary about astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command the Space Shuttle.<br /> Eileen’s incredible journey starts with her smalltown beginnings, sees her smash through many glass ceilings, and culminates in four dramatic space shuttle missions, the last being possibly the most dangerous and most important of them all.<br /> At its heart the film is the moving human drama of one family, where a mother’s extraordinary career takes us straight to the big philosophical question of what is the level of acceptable risk in human endeavour? <br /> This film celebrates Commander Collins’ trailblazing NASA career which opened the way for women to become spacecraft pilots and commanders, and proved a perfect riposte to a previous generation of male astronauts who thought there was no place for women to lead the way in space. <br /> Official Selection DOC NYC 2024 - World premiere<br /> Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025 - European premiere

64 Days | the crowd and its leaders 64 Days: The Insurrection Playbook

Director: Nick Quested

Year: 2025

Documenting the January 6 assault on the US Capitol - Filmmaker Nick Quested was embedded with the Proud Boys, and other far-right groups during the months leading up to the insurrection, capturing exclusive footage of figures including Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes that was used as evidence in hearings of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, and as part of their larger investigation.