FADAFIlm in association with VIAD presents
the premiere screening of Black Dandy. First screened by CANAL+ TV Channel,
March 25, 2015.
Black Dandy
Date: 1
October 2015.
The screening of the film forms part of
the annual programme convened by the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, University of
Johannesburg (VIAD). The programme features the exhibition Hypersampling Identities, Jozi, curated by VIAD in association with
Lifestyle and Trend Analyst, Nicola Cooper and VIAD Post-Doctoral Fellow Daniela
Goeller. The exhibition opens in the FADA Gallery on Monday
evening, 21 September, and runs until 6 October.
Time: 18:30 for 19:00
Venue: FADA Amphitheater, Bunting Road Campus.
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| Sartists. |
About
the Film
Since the beginning of 2010, the streets
of Brooklyn, Johannesburg, London, and Paris are witnessing the appearance of a
new silhouette of young black men, termed the Black Dandies. Mixing European
canons with African culture, these men master the codes of vintage and
street-wear in order to create original, inspired looks. Grouped in collectives
such as the Bronx-based duo, ’Street Etiquette’; the UK-based design team ‘Art Comes First’; and, in the context of Jozi, the ’Sartists’ and ’Khumbula’, these
often self-taught, self-styled men compose an international style that
interpolates both the world of fashion and the black diaspora.
What makes them so
fascinating is the political beauty they produce.
According to director Ariel Wizman (Black Dandy 2015), the film pays tribute to
the men who fight against the stigma that sometimes comes with being a man who
pays special attention to his appearance and style: "The idea was to
restore dignity to a global African culture and find a certain conception of
independence vis-à-vis white-black codes".
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| Khumbula |
The film traces the history of
the Black Dandy, from the first
emancipated slaves in the US, the zoot suits of the Harlem Renaissance, the
Congolese Sapeurs who mock dictatorship with their shrill suits, to
post-apartheid South African youth who extol black pride with elegance. These
men stand out in a history in which an obsession for beautiful clothing comes
together in a search for dignity and the art of protesting with style, using the dandy’s signature tools — clothing, gesture, and wit — to break
down limiting identity markers. Cited Okayafrica. [O].
Available, accessed September 20, 2015.
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| Art Comes First |
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| Art Comes First |
Pharrell Williams Shows off his Dandy side in
fall Chanel Ad Campaign.
Pharrell
Williams’ fashion game has taken a considerably haute turn for fall. ‘The
Voice’ mentor is featured alongside Cara Delevingne in Chanel’s Austrian-themed
Pre-Fall collection. Williams, a Grammy winning producer, has been known to mix
up his style game over the years. But in these ads he shows that high fashion
for men can be both chic and masculine. Some may view the styles as a bit
feminine but it’s nice to see a man embrace his fun and fashionable side. The
styles and looks from the collection not only look great on Pharrell, but are
sure to garner attention from the not-so-usual purveyors of fashion. But then
again, this is the genius of Karl Lagerfeld and the House of Chanel. Cited It’s
DIVAD, Accessed September 20, 2015.
About the directors
Laurent Lunetta
Born in
1974, Laurent Lunetta is a French director, journalist and
screenwriter. He directed eight documentaries for the French
Television channels, Canal + and Arte.
For the cinema, he was the
co-screenwriter of the Alain Guiraudie’s film, The King of Escape, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. He was the artistic director of the film, Stranger by the Lake (2012), for which
he was rewarded at the Cannes Film Festival and at the César’s (the French
Oscar Prize).
Ariel Wizman
Born in
Casablanca, Ariel Wizman is a French journalist, television presenter, author
and producer. First, he hosted a famous radio show in
Paris called, La Grosse Boule, that was
made into a television production.
He was the presenter of many
television productions, including The Apartment, Ciné-Bus and Tentations. Since 1999, he wrote and produced more than 30
cultural documentaries for the French television channels, Arte, Canal + and
France 2, most of which have been sold worldwide.
