Essentially a piece of performance art rather than a film with an easily digestible narrative, Wayfinder takes the viewer across the country at an often glacial pace. We ostensibly follow the Wanderer, played by Perside Rodrigues, as she travels from the north to the south of the UK, beginning at Hadrian’s Wall and ending at the sea at Margate. The film is broken down into chapters with titles like The Big Smoke and The Kingdom Of The East; as a pandemic unfolds, the Wanderer carries a gasmask amidst the British landscapes of countryside, museums and cafes.
Along the way, this red-hooded figure is mostly alone in empty spaces – apart from one meeting with former sprinter Anita Neil, Britain’s first Black female Olympian. Neil speaks proudly of competing on the global stage amidst a certain reticence from the establishment to acknowledging her achievements. This is a dreamlike visual essay that addresses themes of identity, empire and racism with poetic voiceover: particularly effective during a trip to the National Gallery and a look at Turner’s paintings celebrating Britain’s naval and colonial past.
London-born British-Ghanian artist Larry Achiampong works in film, sculpture, installation, sound, collage, music and performance, bringing them together here in an exploration of contemporary UK that’s interesting, if not for everyone. His hypnotic score unites often disparate sections and locations as the Wanderer continues her journey in a sensory snapshot experience of Black culture and history, riddled with images of solitude and loneliness.
Dir: Larry Achiampong (15, 74 mins)
Out Fri 1 July
words KEIRON SELF
