After the success of GLIMPSE, the British studio Electric Skies continues its exploration of human and sensitive stories with KINDRED – a directorial debut in the form of a personal narrative, closer to a documentary. Meeting with its director, Bambou Kenneth.
Addressing a social and genre question with KINDRED
Bambou Kenneth – I come from the art world, having studied at Parsons School of Design in New York (Bachelor of Fine Arts – BFA, Integrated design). I discovered virtual reality when I met the two founders of Mr Kite studio, Michael O’Connor and Benjamin Cleary. I made my debut as an art director on GLIMPSE, and it was a real encounter with the medium! Coming from other artistic fields, I was seduced by the quality of the experiences proposed, and the intimacy that could be found there. KINDRED is my first film as a director.
B. K. – KINDRED is a project born out of a proposal from the BFI and StoryFutures, who approached several UK studios for a series of VR projects – including Electric Skies for KINDRED (see their page). 10 teams were found to talk about societal and cultural topics in the country. With us, they wanted to offer an experience around Queer history in the UK. That’s where producers Michael O’Connor and Lee Harris asked me to direct the piece , to design the story and to direct it. As I was looking for my first project, with an obvious sensitivity to this theme, I was glad to accept.
Kindred is a remarkable achievement in immersive storytelling. It is an important and urgent story that breathes new life into the past and asks questions about our future. Told with tenderness and warmth, Electric Skies have created one of the finest VR pieces I’ve ever experienced.
Prof. James Bennett – Director of StoryFutures
From writing to directing, a Team Work
B. K. – To meet the truthful needs of such a film, I worked closely with Dr. Amy Tooth Murphy, a specialist in gender studies and Queer history at Royal Holloway, University of London. She sent me several interviews that had already been done, to guide me, and that’s how we discovered Syd, the first non-binary transgender person to complete a full adoption process (in the UK). It was listening to their personality that convinced me that there was a real story to share here, and a struggle to put forward. With a bit of humour, too! This gave me a real creative freedom to create a complete VR experience.
B. K. – We worked with the real Syd, while anonymizing the story. We talked a lot with them , and with their child. They sent us images, and some of them we used as references for our artistic direction. We were fortunate to have them with us every step of the way until the film was presented to the public. Along with Venice, KINDRED was shown in the UK at StoryTrails (link), a tour in the summer of 2022 that was part of the UNBOXED festival, where the real Syd and Ollie got to see the film. It was obviously fundamental for us that they like the finished experience! For the next steps, I hope that the film will continue to tour, especially in countries where these issues are developing, such as in Asia or the United States.
B. K. – Considering the conditions on the film, and the deadlines, we then asked another creative studio, Salamandra.uk (see their case study), to accompany us on the animation of the film. It was their first VR film, but they were very enthusiastic! And that was really an important aspect for me in every collaboration, to be able to rely on individual and collective energies. With the background of the story, we were also keen to surround ourselves with LGBTQ+ collaborators, in order to get closer to their realities, and not get lost in the middle of the production of the work. This allowed us to respect the story and the characters as much as possible. And this is as true for gender issues as it is for the notion of family. From our producer to the narrator, from the developer to the composer, we were lucky to have them with us.
Building the home of KINDRED
B. K. – To build the story of KINDRED is to address this fundamental subject of queer status and adoption. And in today’s society, it’s very controversial. Not many countries are ahead on this, really. We opened a British television archive that helps to understand that. Then I wanted the film to be light, dreamy, with pastel colours, to lighten the subject. The characters and the environments are very round and cartoonish. It was important that the form of the story did not preempt the more serious underlying reflection. I wanted to create a minimalist, intimate and very warm world. It’s also a nice story, a family story, about a developing culture, about a parent in the making. I wanted to bring a little magic to it, to summarise these different ideas in this short film.
B. K. – This dissonance helps to better understand the subject. The feedback from the audience is consistent with this. Not being antagonistic, focusing on the testimony, keeps Syd’s voice at the centre of the story. It’s a very strong story, and I discussed it a lot within the team and my friends around me. The current adoption system is not built to facilitate adoptions by queer people. Or other categories. We need to reconsider certain criteria in these processes. At each step, I try to keep my opinion as open as possible to integrate all these issues. I hope the film will accompany future debates that way.
B. K. – KINDRED can be seen as a documentary, in the sense that we worked with real facts, and Syd’s real testimony. There is an obvious search for truth. I personally felt responsible for respecting that as much as possible. Some of Syd’s words were kept in the final cut. It’s hard to get more authentic than that! The dialogues seem totally free, very concrete – and even if we reworked the whole 2 hour interview, we had to keep the character of this person. With the actor, we tried to connect on that level to drive the story effectively within the time available. This gave us a direction for visual creation in this administrative and human journey.
The team behind KINDRED
- Ki Griffin, Voice of ‘Syd’ (Non-Binary – He/They) – Ki Griffin is a creative artist, DJ and activist from East London. His intersectional identity as a non-binary, queer, intersex person of colour is at the forefront of his creative practice and activism, and they regularly perform in queer nightlife events and are a member of Intersex Equality Rights UK. They currently play Ripley Lennox in Hollyoaks, the first non-binary character to appear in a British soap.
- Tessa Ratuszynska, Producer (Non-Binary – She/They) – Tessa is an XR producer, documentary maker and selected StoryTrails Creative Practitioner. They have worked as creative producers for internationally acclaimed VR and immersive experiences project In My Shoes, including Intimacy (Dir. Jane Gauntlett) which premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest 2017. Tessa also worked with Limina Immersive and has curated VR programmes for British Council & Limina VR cinema.
- ILĀ, Composer (Trans – They/ Them) – A multifaceted artist and producer, who has collaborated with over 20 Grammy- winning artists including Alt-J, Imogen Heap and U2. They are also the Co-Founder, Conductor and Director of Trans Voices – the UK’s first ever professional trans+ choir.
- Dr Amy Tooth Murphy, Academic Partner (Queer Female – She/ Her) – Amy Tooth Murphy is Lecturer in Oral History at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research interests include queer history, particularly post-war lesbian histories; oral history theory and method; butch/femme cultures and identities; and lesbian literature. Her current research project is an exploration of butch lived experience and identity from 1950-Present. Amy is a Trustee of the Oral History Society and Editor of the peer-reviewed blog, Notches: (re)marks on the history of sexuality.
- Dana Anne Holdampf / Developer (Non-Binary – She/They) – Dana is a technical artist and game designer from Metro Detroit. She is a self-taught creative and technical generalist, and a lifelong fan of experimental media. Dana’s work in indie games and interactive fiction has been broadly recognized for innovative gameplay and design. As a creator, they are particularly interested in simulation and play; how it can be used to explore new ideas, create potent experiences, and otherwise reach people on a personal level.
KINDRED on tour
Raindance Immersive Stories 2022 – Raindance Immersive
