Queen of Glory
Pre-film Performance by Western Edge
Tuesday 3 MAY | 7:00PM
ACMI
This event has now ended. Tickets no longer available.
Pre-film Performance by Western Edge
Amarachi Okorom and Leigh Lule share a 15 minute performance exploring heartbreak, grief, unrequited love, loss and self-worth.
Film Synopsis
A bold diasporic comedy-drama, the directorial debut from Nana Mensah (Farewell Amor, HRAFF Opening Night 2021) announces the arrival of a wildly creative new filmmaker.
Queen of Glory is a charming tale, in which Sarah, a rising Ghanaian-American academic is summoned to run her late mother’s Christian bookshop after her sudden passing. Played by Mensah, Sarah soon finds herself back in her childhood home in the Bronx. As she struggles with funeral arrangements Sarah re-connects with the cultures and traditions of an environment she didn’t realise that she had almost lost. An at times heartrending story balanced with unexpected laughs, the world of Queen of Glory, like that of Sarah’s Bronx home neighbourhood, is enriched by lively supporting roles and a committed lead-performance.
Film Info
Melbourne Premiere
Director: Nana Mensah
Country: USA
Year: 2021
Duration: 78 minutes
Language: English
Genre: Narrative
Awards: Best New Narrative Director, Tribeca Film Festival 2021
Screening Location: ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne | Plan your visit to ACMI
Accessibility:
Rating: Unclassified 15+
Festival Selection
Supported By
Pre-film Performance by Western Edge
Amarachi Okorom
Leigh Lule
Amarachi Okorom and Leigh Lule share a 15 minute performance exploring heartbreak, grief, unrequited love, loss and self-worth. Traversing the genres of rom com to drama, spoken word to song, this live performance by two of Western Edge’s leading artists will support Queen of Glory’s Australian debut by grounding it in the bodies and voices of some of our finest local talent.
Western Edge is a not-for-profit arts organisation creating safer spaces for young artists from Melbourne’s west to tell their own stories, with their own voice, in their own way.
Working across three core programmatic areas we create opportunities for young people and artists to explore creativity, learn new artistic practices, gain on-the-job employment, and develop as artistic and cultural leaders.
Our vision is for a thriving community of next generation cultural and artistic leaders borne from Melbourne’s West. Our company’s every move is informed by the many different cultural backgrounds and knowledge systems of our community of young artists – we believe they have unbridled genius and an exciting ability to speak truth to power, shift paradigms, and recenter the conversation around what matters.
Our approach to practice is grounded in decolonial theory and celebrating intersectional diversity. Beyond our artistic programs, we provide learning experiences to corporate, government and community organizations through fee-for-service workshops.
The Sub30 Collective
The Sub30 Collective is a new ensemble who have been training through Western Edge’s inaugural Level Up Professional Development Program.
For two years, Amarachi Okorom, Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi, Leigh Lule, Michael Logo, Betiel Beyin and Yaw Dadzie have been training with Western Edge in a part-time training program to upskill and support their growth in the performing arts sector, including a residency with Malthouse Theatre. For HRAFF, members of the Sub30 Collective will perform original and established scenes of their choosing from theatre and film which bring these international films even closer to home. Taking inspiration from the film’s themes of love, loss, heartbreak, grief, ancestry, migration, ambition and power, the Sub30 artists have curated a 15 minute live performance to ground international works on a local stage. You are invited to witness a preview of the most exciting ensemble to ever be created in a global pandemic (!) and in celebrating the next generation of cultural and artistic leaders borne from Melbourne’s West.