MASS is a film by Nadeem Din-Gabisi that takes as a starting point the concept of ‘Black visual frequency’ coined by academic Tina Campt which, for the artist, translates as a place of home and belonging, seen and unseen. To ‘mass’ is to materialise, to become present. It is also an allusion to the idea of the ‘massive’ – a group of people connected by shared allegiances and bonds. Focusing our attention on the invisible transmission of radio waves within the urban environment, MASS embodies an intangible ‘spirit’ or ‘signal’ that characterises various aspects of contemporary Black experience around which people identify and congregate. Featuring contributions from musician Coby Sey, artist-filmmaker Rhea Storr, and Director of Photography Shivani Hassard, and filmed on 16mm, 8mm and digital video, MASS gives poetic expression to this unseen spectrum of background signals and contrasts them with vivid depictions of a shared and intimate private space of sanctuary, solidarity and celebration.

Read

David Kwaw Mensah considers how MASS can be categorised in the genre of Transcendental Cinema

Nadeem Din-Gabisi's Artist's Statement

FVU Director Steven Bode's reflection on MASS, our first film to premiere on FVU Watch

Listen

Stream and download MASS: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, by Coby Sey

Listen to our FVU Frames interview with Nadeem Din-Gabisi