Carole Enahoro
novelist, artist, academic, creative tutoring
Oyinbo Pepper
A triple screen film completed in two different decades.
The original, shot in 1986 in 16mm, and projected simultaneously by three projectors, focused on a celebration of my parents' differing Nigerian and British heritage. Their strong cultural roots allowed them to inhabit other cultures without a sense of threat. In the centre screen, my sense of identity derived from their apprehension of their own cultures, especially as a result of constant uprooting travel. We were known in Nigeria in those days as 'Oyinbo Pepper', in other words peeled, like white skin, but with hot spice thrown in.
The follow-up, shot in 2024, reflects on the dangers of being wrenched away from the safety of both extended families, and the ways in which early perils are constantly replicated and amplified through a lifetime. The left screen, an account of incessant trauma, abuse, and assault; the right screen a document of harmful responses that denied protection. The centre screen, a map of the system that upholds these values, the understanding of which contains the source of my own power. Given the content, only the last section can be excerpted here.
Distribution: Lux
1986, 2024
Country: UK
Duration: 15 mins
Sound: Separate sound (CD)
Available Format/s 1986 version: 16mm film and digitised version
Available Format 2024 version, including archive footage: digitised, with sound
Triple screen film
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Original Oyinbo Pepper on biracial heritage 1986
Continuation of Oyinbo Pepper, on trauma, abuse and asasult, 2024
A short stop-motion collage film on the presentation of a banquet that features a pig's head. The apple, condiments, cellophane, flour, a drink, matches, and table settings have all been arranged for the feast. While the audience witnesses the preparations for the main meal and the appearance of its centrepiece, it is actually the stench of rotting flesh, hidden from viewers, that is the subject of the animation. This is a film about trauma. The latter section has been lost over time but restoration is in progress.
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Distribution: Lux
1986
Country: UK
Duration: 3 mins
Sound: Separate sound (CD)
Available Format/s: 16mm film and digitised version