BAM to Present the World Premiere of Angélique Kidjo Film EVE(S)

Brooklyn Academy of Music has announced the world premiere of Eve(s), a short film by four-time Grammy Award-winning artist Angélique Kidjo. Eve(s) is the fifth in a series of works - Postcards From Now -commissioned by Manchester International Festival (MIF), BAM, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay at the height of the global lockdown, presenting distinct perspectives from leading International Artists. The films are free to watch at BAM.org

Eve(s) is a potent portrait of Kidjo's home country of Benin and the women who inhabit it. Traditionally Benin is a patriarchal culture where households are headed by men but run by women; in moments of crisis, it is the women who come to the fore, utilizing their domestic skills for the sake of the community. This was epitomized early in the pandemic when a cottage industry of mask-making was swiftly developed by women needing new ways to feed their families.

During her last trip to Benin, pre-COVID, Kidjo was accompanied by a professional videographer who recorded hundreds of hours of footage, interviewing and documenting the lives of women and girls around the country. Working with film editor Yasmina Jaafri to shape her existing footage, in Eve(s) Kidjo aims to give these women their stories back, put their voices front and center and show the real women of Benin.

Speaking of the inspiration for the film, Angélique Kidjo says: "In the spring of 2020 while I was confined in my home in Paris, I started to reflect on my many travels throughout the years. In my dreams, I kept coming back to this special journey I took in 2013 across my country Benin for the recording of my album EVE. I was exploring my musical heritage and everywhere I went I encountered extraordinary, beautiful, and brave women at the center of their communities. In 2021 at a time of deep crisis, it is these women who give me hope for the future."

Eve(s) is available to view now at BAM.org

The film series Postcards From Now presents five distinct perspectives from leading International Artists of every stripe - choreographers, musicians, visual artists, theatre-makers, animators, and more. The films explore everything from community to communication, patriarchy to power. And in very different ways, they consider the question that we've all been asking ourselves and others: what happens next?

Other works in the series include choreographer Akram Khan and animator and film director Naaman Azhari exploring how tragedy can bring us together; visual artist Ibrahim Mahama gives an insight to creative education for young people in rural Ghana; a collaboration between choreographer Lucinda Childs and the artist collective (LA)HORDE shows the artistic process of creation in lockdown across borders, and director Lola Arias exposes and explores ageism in a pandemic society.

Watch the full Postcards From Now series for free at BAM.org/postcards-from-now

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