A three-screen collaborative film that explores father-daughter relationships, by Beverley Bennett.
‘Simon Says / Dadda’ is a collaborative three-screen film exploring father/daughter relationships together with Black and Asian women and non-binary individuals from four host cities across the UK (Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle and London). Highlighting the deep impact that structural inequalities have within wider society, the ambitious large-scale film project was developed during a Metal residency.
Through a series of Gatherings hosted at four UK socially engaged arts spaces (Metal, Liverpool; Grand Union, Birmingham; Lux, London and Newbridge, Newcastle), Beverley guided women and non-binary individuals through a therapeutic process, supported by a mental health practitioner, to explore their own family relationships and experiences of patriarchy. The Gatherings involved looking at film, listening to music, drawing, writing poetry and cooking together.
The three screens feature footage shot by Beverley supported by family, actors and a film crew, and a series of audio testimonies gifted by the project participants.
‘Whatever healing work we do in our lives heals the ancestral lineage of the previous seven generations, and the seven generations to come’ – Dr Judith Rich
Beverley Bennett is an artist-filmmaker whose work revolves around the possibilities of drawing, performance and collaboration. Her practice connects multiple ways of making. The first of these is a concern with the importance of ‘gatherings’ to denote a methodology that differs from the more hierarchical model of the workshop; one person leading and sharing information with participants taking part in the activities. Instead ‘gatherings’ are cyclical, whereby everyone learns from each other and often formulate in myriad ways, from reading together to gathering at a party. This has created a ‘tapestry of voices’, an interweaving of communalities and differences that provide a broader view, an important part of amplifying intergenerational relationships. The second is an investigation of the idea of The Archive (often beginning projects by creating / adding to her own extensive personal archives of interviews, using them for preliminary research and experimentation) and the third is collaboration. This is frequently through socially political work with other creatives, fine artists, community members, young children and their families. Her practice provides spaces for participants to become collaborators and provides a point of focus from where to unpick ideas around what constitutes an art practice and for whom art is generated.
Bennett’s work has been shown nationally and internationally; venues include the British Film Institute (BFI), London (2023); Birmingham 2022 Festival (2022); CinemaAfrica Film Festival, Stockholm (2018); Encounters Short Film Festival, Bristol (2017); Wysing Art Centre, Cambridgeshire (2017); Spike Island, Bristol (2017); New Art Exchange, Nottingham (2016); National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston (2016); Bluecoat, Liverpool (2010).
To listen to the playlist compiled for the project, click here.
Simon Says / Dadda screening at FACT, Liverpool Wednesday 7 June at 7pm
Metal hosted a screening of the film in The Box at FACT in June 2023. The link to that event page is here.
Simon Says / Dadda Online discussion 20 June at 7pm
Metal then hosted an online discussion with artist Beverley Bennett thirteen days after the screening, covering the making of Simon Says / Dadda.
Project participant Nkechi Onuora will share a special podcast inspired by Simon Says / Dadda and her own experiences growing up in Liverpool as a stand-alone listening experience in July 2023.
To visit the podcast page, click here.
