VERDICT: A captivating, shapeshifting excavation of the vampirism of Christopher Columbus and the colonial project filtered through the weed-fuelled mythology of artist and singer, Oba.
Artist and singer Oba reveals his centuries-old existence and its undead origins in Adam Khalil and Bayley Sweitzer’s brilliant short film, Nosferasta: First Bite, the first iteration of an ongoing project in collaboration with their star. The premise is that half a millennia ago, Oba was shipwrecked on the shores of the Americas where he was discovered and bitten by the vampire, Christopher Columbus, subsequently doing his bidding until he turned on his master hundreds of years later after discovering Rastafarianism.
Documentary-like footage of Oba in the modern-day United States, struggling to get his green card renewed, is interspersed with dramatic “recreations” of his life and death centuries earlier. Here, the young Oba (played by Adam Rashad Glenn) is coveted by Columbus (Jack Sochet) because the colour of his skin will allow an easier subjugation of the Indigenous population. As such, until his later revolt, Oba becomes complicit in these machinations.
Nosferasta: First Bite is a more slippery work than Khalil and Sweitzer’s 2018 feature Empty Metal, but no less politically radical or potent for it. The film makes a clear and persuasive parallel between the actions and effects of the colonial discoverer-invader and a Gothic blood-sucking demon, also weaving in more subtle inferences about insidious methods of subjugation. It draws attention to both the manipulation of Oba’s actions and to his illiteracy at the express behest of his master. This elusiveness is echoed in the form which shifts backwards and forwards in time, apparently blending non-fiction and fiction modes – at one point Oba is seen almost directing a previous historical scene – to create a work as thought-provoking and nebulous as its subject matter warrants.
Directors, Editors: Adam Khalil, Bayley Sweitzer Screenplay: Adam Khalil, Bayley Sweitzer, Oba Cast: Oba, Jack Sochet, Adam Rashad Glenn, Jerry G. Angelo, Sarah Kerr Producer: Anne Alexander Cinematography: Alex Ashe Music: Doug Hock, Leila Bordreuil, Village Drums of Freedom Production Company: Cousins (USA) Venue: Rotterdam International Film Festival (Ammodo Tiger Shorts Competition) In English 33 minutes
