Project Detail

MUSCLE

Name: MUSCLE
Director: Karimah Ashadu
Genre: Experimental, Black, Sport, Woman Director
Released: 2025
Duration: 22 min

Synopsis

With no single protagonist or linear narrative, the film immerses the viewer in a spectacle of strength through an intimate portrait of bodybuilders in the slums of Lagos. Inflated muscles, bulging veins and luminous skin glistening with sweat fill the screen. Shot almost entirely in close-ups, the camera hovers so near its subjects, moving softly like breath on skin, that at times figures become blurred, abstracted forms.
Karimah Ashadu’s slow, measured pans across backs, chests and arms meditate on visibility, drawing attention to the embodiment and representation of the Black male body without rendering it singular or fixed. The metallic clang of barbells is punctuated with guttural sounds of exertion set against the ambience of the streets. Breath and muscle move in syncopated sonic choreography, and the men’s commitment to the ritual of maintaining the body is evident.
Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Forum Expanded - International Premiere

Details

Year: 2025
Type of project: Shorts
Running time: 22 min
Director: Karimah Ashadu
Producer: Leonardo Bigazzi, Alessandro Rabottini
Co-Producer: Karimah Ashadu
Editor: Karimah Ashadu
Director of Photography: Aigberadion Israel Ikhazuangbe
Production Designer: Karimah Ashadu
Sound Design: Jochen Jezussek, Onu Rosemaryjoy Chiwendu, Joseph Eyo Edem

Genre

Experimental Black Sport Woman Director

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Commissioned by Camden Art Centre (UK), Fondazione In Between Art Film (IT), Renaissance Society, University of Chicago (US)

Italy, UK, US, Germany, Nigeria co-production

In Between Art Film (IT), Karimah Ashadu (DE, UK, NG), Golddust by Ashadu (NG)

Karimah Ashadu

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Sales Company

Golddust by Ashadu

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