Invernomuto
Negus (2016)
HD video, color, sound, 70 minutes
Evening Screening
30 September 2016, 7 – 9pm
(film begins at 7:30pm)
Daytime Screenings
1 until 21 October 2016
Screening at 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm, 3:30pm, 5pm
It’s a circuitous chronicle of Negusa Nagast, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, His Imperial Majesty (HIM)…Jah Rastafari! In their 70-minute video Negus (2016), Italian artist duo Invernomuto explore the complexities of history, ideology, and belief through the disparate legacies of the last emperor of Ethiopia.
Born Tafari Makonnen, Emperor Haile Selassie I’s (1892–1975) royal lineage connected all the way back to King Solomon and Queen Sheba. He was propelled to the world stage in 1936, when he addressed the League of Nations to condemn the use of chemical weapons by Mussolini’s fascist regime during the colonial invasion of Ethiopia. To Rastafarians – a religious sect that began in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean diaspora – the coronation of Selassie I signalled the arrival of a black messiah, a God incarnate, a liberator who would fight downpression and usher in an age of peace, righteousness, and prosperity. Yet Selassie I was portrayed by Mussolini’s regime as a devil.
The film departs from the story of an injured Italian soldier returning from Ethiopia to Vernasca (Invernomuto’s home town in Italy), and the burning of an effigy of Haile Selassie I by the townspeople. For followers of Rastafarianism and Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, this ceremony was a desecration of the Elect of God, the Root of David. And the film culminates with reggae godfather and dub producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry performing a mystic cleansing rite in Vernasca’s town square, to purge Vernasca of this lingering evil by resurrecting the spirit of Jah through fiery symbolism, mashing down Babylon, at high volume. Babylon, Italy’s colonial conquests in Ethiopia, the Dogali monument, the burning of Perry’s Black Ark Studios, the Mercedes logo, Shashamane (a Rastafarian community founded on land the Emperor set aside for the repatriation of diasporic Africans), plus the continued downpression of Rastafarianism, and the religion’s pronounced role in reggae music and sound system culture – these disparate locations, archival materials, and conflicting viewpoints constantly loop, switch back and forth, intermix, and feedback into one another. Invernomuto produces a dub of history that rejects dominant narratives, and gives rise to a righteous overstanding of this controversial figure.
OPENING CREDITS
PRODUCED BY:
LUCA LEGNANI 999 FILMS
SOUNDTRACK:
DUPPY GUN PRODUCTIONS
AUDIO MIX:
LORENZO DAL RI
LINE PRODUCER:
TALIESIN GILKES-BOWER
STARRING:
CONGO ASHANTI ROY
KING KONG
ILABASH
CARMELO GHEBRE SELASSIE
STEPHEN STEWART
AFIFA AZA
KURI “THE FARMER”
SHARA BENJI
RAS MARLON
AND
LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY
WRITTEN, EDITED AND DIRECTED BY:
INVERNOMUTO
END CREDITS
STARRING
IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
ILIBASH
RAS MARLON
OLIMPIO TRABUCCHI
MATTEO PIT
JIM C. NEDD
LUCA TRABUCCHI
KURI “THE FARMER”
ANDREA LEWIS
CARMELO GHEBRE SELASSIE CRESCENTI
P-SON
MARVIN “SEAN” PERRY
CONGO “ASHANTI” ROY
RONALD JARRETT
STEPHEN STEWART
ABA SHANTI I
SAHARA BENJI
JUNIOR ORVILLE SWABY
AFIFA AZA
RASSI HARDKNOCKS
ALPHONSE LUKOKI FULUMPINGA
TOMAS TOMMASI
TJ
IRVROL FRASIER
LUKAN I
EARLY ONE
MICAH SHEMAIAH
KING KONG
PIETRO NICOLI
LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY
NOEL PERRY
STEADYCAM OPERATOR: ALESSANDRO RUGGERI
LOCATION SUPPORT:
ANDREA LEWIS
TALIESIN GILKES-BOWER
ALESSANDRO RUGGERA
SAHARA BENJI
RAS TEWELDE
ELEONORA MUOIO
OPERATOR ASSISTANTS:
GIUSEPPE LAGANELLA
STEFANO SAMPAOLO
GIULIANO SEVERINI
CAMERA OPERATOR:
SIMONE BERTUZZI
COLORIST:
ANDREA VAVASSORI
TITLE 3D MODELING AND ANIMATION:
DANIELE TRIBI
SOUND RECORDING:
LORENZO DAL RI
INVERNOMUTO
BOOM OPERATORS:
CAMERON STALLONES
M. GEDDES GENGRAS
SIMONE TRABUCCHI
ELECTRICIAN:
MARIO CASTELLI
FLAMES RIGGER:
PIROTECNICA BENASSI
PHOTOGRAPHERS:
MOIRA RICCI
TALIESIN GILKES-BOWER
CAMERA, LIGHTNING & GRIP:
MOVIE PEOPLE SRL
MOOVIE SRL
VIDEODESIGN
999 FILMS
VAN RENTAL:
MORINI RENT
BOOKING AGENCY:
BASS CULTURE
CATERING:
AL DOPO LAVORO, VERNASCA
ACCOUNTANT:
FABIANA COMPAGNUCCI
INSURANCE COMPANY:
ASSIMOVIE, ROMA
POST-HOUSE:
FRAME BY FRAME, ROMA
SPECIAL THANKS:
MIRKO RIZZI (MARSÈLLERIA)
PAOLO PALMIERI
DAVIDE GIANNELLA
CORRADO BELDÌ
ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA ADDIS ABEBA
AR/GE KUNST
MUSEION
XAVIER GARCÌA BARDÒN
XING
AUDITORIUM ARTE
COMUNE DI VERNASCA
ANDREA LISSONI
FONDAZIONE FURLA
FILIPA RAMOS
FULVIO COMPAGNUCCI
COSIMO ALEMÀ
CINECITTÀ LUCE
MICHELLE SERIEUX
MATTEO STEFANI
THANKS TO INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN CROWDFUNDERS
(WAY TOO MUCH TO LIST)
CROWDFUNDING MEDIA SUPPORTERS:
AFRICA IS A COUNTRY
ARTRIBUNE
ATP DIARY
DUTTY ARTZ
FLASH ART
NERO
PTW SCHOOL
VICE
WIRED
WU MING
ZERO
“UP WIT U BABY” (version)
music by DUPPY FOUNDERS
courtesy of DUPPY GUN PRODUCTIONS
“FAX ME RIDDIM”
music by BIG FLUTE & VELKRO
courtesy of DUPPY GUN PRODUCTIONS
“MAD DUB INNA GORGE”
music by TALUS GLIDER
courtesy of DUPPY GUN PRODUCTIONS
“GIRLS DEM NEED MI” (version)
music by GENESIS HULL
courtesy of DUPPY GUN PRODUCTIONS
“LOVE DI PEOPLE”
music by GENESIS HULL
lyrics by SIKKA RYMES Feat. JOHN D
courtesy of DUPPY GUN PRODUCTIONS
“ROCKHEAD” (instrumental)
music by LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY
courtesy of LEE “SCRATCH” PERRY
EMPEROR HAILE SELASSIE
“It is good that you are here to record this picture of me…
…in my palace garden at Addis Ababa.
People who see this throughout the world will realise that…
…even in the 20th century…
…with faith, courage and a just cause…
…David will still beat Goliath”
© INVERNOMUTO / 999 FILMS - 2016
1-5: film stills from Invernomuto, Negus (2016). Courtesy of Invernomuto.
