ASSEMBLY

New York Premiere
Immersive and celebratory, this one-of-a-kind film follows internationally acclaimed artist Rashaad Newsome as he embarks on his most ambitious project yet — a multimedia exhibition and performance at New York’s historic Park Avenue Armory. Once a bastion of white military power, the Armory is transformed into a vibrant celebration of Black and queer culture through video projections, holograms, sculptures, collages, music, dance, and African fractal patterns. As he mounts a monumentally innovative work, Newsome engages international performers, visits Ghana, and creates an anti-colonial AI character (“Being”) to comprehensively explore ancestral history, memory, and guidance.

Through stunning visuals and dynamic performances, ASSEMBLY weaves together Rashaad’s creative process and the lives of his collaborators to highlight the capacity for art to reclaim agency and inspire change – offering a vision of intergenerational resilience, transformation, and hope.

Screening will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A

 

Part of NewFest Pride

Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons

Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons

Rashaad Newsome, Being the Digital Griot, Dazié Rustin Grego-Sykes, Kyron EL, Nekia Zulu, Puma Camillé, Koppi Mizrahi, Dana Vitkovski, Zenabu Abubakari, Florence Newsome