Tired of Trees? - 2020
Poetry Short Film - 02:09 min
A no-budget poetry short film composed of spoken word, video, and performance, “Tired of Trees?” depicts a young, black mother’s experience of the first COVID-19 lockdown in a German suburb. The film chronicles my ambivalent experience, as the severity of the global pandemic contrasts with the serenity of a sheltered, rural spring.
Using a visually and thematically fragmented style, I depict a specific emotional state during lockdown, and propose the pandemic, the struggle for social justice, and the climate crisis as interconnected socio-political issues.
By sharing intimate images of domesticity, the film reflects on how everyday actions within isolation have become acts of public importance. As spatial constriction gives room to inward expansion, questions about outward identity and political participation remain present. These multi-layered internal contemplations are contrasted with my excursions into a local forest, which turn into acts of connection. Despite suggested notions of hope and perspective, viewers are left with the question of whether and how insight turns into personal and political action.