Babilonia

This video has a special place in my heart. In 2019 I won an award to travel around the USA and make a documentary. I was interested in deconstructing the Hollywood gaze and finding local or grassroots filmmakers from overly stereotyped states or cities who were representing their communities on screen in a way that wasn't seen in mainstream cinema. I interviewed New Orleans filmmaker Benjamin Simmons about a film he had made, Animals, which charted the legendary rise of Bally Animal trainers in 90s New Orleans, and their lasting place in local hip hop culture and fashion. He made the film as a celebration of New Orleans and a representation of the positive aspects of hip hop culture, looking at how music and fashion spoke to the everyday lives of the local community. I shot this all on a Canon DSLR with a bluetooth microphone I bought from Amazon, and enjoyed a crazy couple of months on the road which proved very formative to my artistic vision as a filmmaker. Shot, directed and edited by me with an original soundtrack by Hennessy, a Los Angeles-based rapper.