Kali is a short film inspired by Nina Simone’s rendition of Pirate Jenny, the song from the Brecht/Weil “Three Penny Opera“. The lyrics of the song have been rewritten to become a monologue, performed by actress Hiam Abbass in Arabic (with English subtitles). The film has been shot with two cameras, a main one and a surveillance camera placed further away from the actress. It is conceived as a two-channel installation, with the footage from the main camera as a large projection and the surveillance camera film presented on a monitor within the same venue, and synchronized with the large projection.

The film tackles issues of oppression, exploitation and injustice. The title refers to the Hindu goddess associated with Empowerment, Time and Change. Although presented as dark and violent, Kali is also a figure of annihilation of evil forces. It perfectly reflects the spirit of the text, an angry plea to vengeance over injustice and oppression.

Gone With the Wind (1939) is a movie that has now been condemned for its racist depiction of the South. For the drawing Burning (2021) I have chosen a still from Gone With the Wind of the burning of Atlanta, one of the pivotal moments in the film that most strongly condemns the civil war.

By eliminating the characters in the film still, and removing the image from its original context, this image of burning buildings also takes on new associations which resonate with images from the Black Lives Matter protests against racism and police brutality in the summer of 2020.