BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

Directed by Kahlil Joseph

United States

2025

113 mins

Unclassified 18+

In this genre-defying, centuries-spanning work by renowned video artist Kahlil Joseph – director of Beyoncé’s Lemonade – Black history blends provocatively with Afro-futurism. Sundance, Berlinale 2025.

Known for his collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, Joseph in his latest piece takes inspiration from the Encyclopedia Africana, a sprawling compendium of African history, art and culture. In an alternate future, a host of characters board the transatlantic liner The Nautica, a biennial at sea, where they’ll experience the star attraction, The Resonant Field. This sonic installation echoes the Black collective memory from the seabed below, memorialising lives lost to the Atlantic slave trade. Structured like a mixtape, Joseph’s episodic film layers archival material with social media and YouTube samples, weaving personal and political history. The bold vision of BLKNWS is cerebral, transgressive and even playful.

Flexipass Redeems & exchanges are no longer available for the Sydney Opera House screening of this film. Final tickets to the Sydney Opera House session may still be available through sydneyoperahouse.com. Please see our Terms & Conditions for full details.
Limited seats are available for patrons requiring access for wheelchairs, low vision and hearing loop. Please contact our ticketing team directly on 1300 733 733 or tickets@sff.org.au to complete your booking.

“BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions combines footage from across a vast spectrum of thought, experience and influence, creating formally audacious montages that are thought-provoking and soul-stirring all at once”

Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

“A compendium of Black thought and culture for former Tumblr kids. Joseph presents songs, memes, videos and photographs at the speed of a scroll. But unlike our increasingly warped and rage-baited algorithms, BLKNWS is an informative encounter.”

Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter

“Cinema needs more filmmakers like Joseph and his collaborators, artists making truly original work that emerges from a self-aware yet playful artistic vision.”

Beandrea July, IndieWire

Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

Tickets

Fri 6 June 2025, 8:15pm

Past Event

Dendy Newtown - Cinema 1

Sun 8 June 2025, 5:45pm

Past Event

Sydney Opera House Playhouse

Sydney Opera House

See more, save more with a Flexipass or Youth Pass

Program Strand
Features
Year
2025
Classification
Unclassified 18+
Country
USA
Language
In English
Director
Kahlil Joseph
Producer
Onye Anyanwu, Kahlil Joseph, Amy Greenleaf, Nic Gonda
Cast
Shaunette Renée Wilson, Kaneza Schaal, Hope Giselle
Screenwriter
Kahlil Joseph, Saidiya Hartman, Irvin Hunt, Madebo Fatunde, Kristen Adele Calhoun, Onye Anyanwu
Cinematographer
Bradford Young
Editor
Luke Lynch, Paul Rogers, Kahlil Joseph
Genre
Arts, Experimental, Politics
Premiere
Australian Premiere
Company Credits
Sales Agent: Rich Spirit

Sydney Film Festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

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