The Dream That Refused Me

An Afrofuturist cipher reframing black cultures through poetry, movement and dance.

Jabu Nadia Newman is a South African photographer and filmmaker whose work is as diverse as her constantly shifting pool of inspirations. Through boldly colorful imagery, she explores alternative narratives with sensitivity and humor.

The Dream The Refused Me is split across four aesthetically distinct chapters that ties together myths, attitudes, and rituals from across Africa. Powerful and emotionally stirring, a Xhosa poem narrated by Siyabonga Jim creates a narrative line between the ancestral specters and incandescent landscapes created by collage artist Zas Ieluhee.

The story of Africa’s rich cultures and traditions is constantly being retold, remade, and reimagined. The Ethnicify App segment of Newman’s film, which is a satirical take on influencer culture, highlights how cultural nuances can become lost in translation among the diaspora. The question remains: If we, as a new generation of global Africans, are meant to embody the hopes and dreams of our forefathers, would they even recognise us today?

The Dream That Refused Me does not aim to carry a singular message but to exist as a creative expression; a kaleidoscope of colors, shapes, and prints that for those who have inherited the key through birth, culture or education can unlock the film’s abundance of coded connotations.