[Sundance Short, 2012] ‘Robots of Brixton’ – Immigration & Replacement Of The Classes

Sundance 2012 is set to see robots battle it out on the traditionally African-Caribbean hub’s iconic streets in London. Architecture student Kibwe Tavares filters a vision of a robot uprising through the lens of history, blending high grade CG with archival footage of the 1981 Brixton riots.

The 27 year old University College London student, Kibwe Tavares, paints a futuristic Brixton, in south London, bringing to life a vision in 3D animation that sees the area going the way of many a small town in America – at least according to Hollywood – and getting his own Alien invasions.

Tavares has created these scenes in a short film, originally entitled, Matter Out of Place, as part of the work for his architecture master’s degree. The four-and-half minute film took years of painstaking work to complete, and one of the things I am beginning to admire about the up and coming generation of black filmmakers.

[sws_blockquote_endquote align=”” cite=”” quotestyle=”style03″]The robots are metaphors and could be the next wave of immigrants to the town, eventually becoming Brixton’s main residents. -Kibwe [/sws_blockquote_endquote]

The film is a commentary on the cyclical nature of the working class in the UK. It underscores perhaps the surging sentiments in the idea that the working class in Brixton are seemingly replaced by other working classes from different countries. First, the Irish ‘replaced’ British workers, who were then replaced by African-Caribbeans. The new wave underway in Brixton as of now, is the influx, peradventure, of the Eastern European working classes.

Also in America, the fear of replacement by other working classes (from Latin America especially) cannot be overemphasized in light of the bold steps taken by Georgia and Alabama recently to nip the current in the bud. A similar sentimental surge against replacement may be gripping many a state across the United States and slowly, who knows when these forces will gather the Out of Place momentum to incite the conflicts that Kibwe Tavares prophesies in his 3D futuristic Brixton?

The plot of the film follows the daily life of a robot and ends in scenes that echo those of the 1991 Brixton riots, of robots fighting n the streets.

[sws_blockquote_endquote align=”” cite=”” quotestyle=”style03″]I intended to explore the idea of the forgotten working classes andtheir interaction with the replacing classes and how the race factors into this, and whether race is important . It looks at tensions caused by poor/lack of housing and high unemployment. -Kibwe [/sws_blockquote_endquote]

The 3D images that make up the films have been created with a combination of drawings, photographs and collage, drawing on visual inspiration from comics and Kibwe‘s favorite films.

The work has been described by his tutor as a mix between Paul Gilroy and the movie, District 9.

Kibwe has intricately reconstructed how popular Brixton landmarks like the town hall, Coldharbour Lane and Brixton Market might look years from now.

Kibwe said he chose Brixton partly because he has lived in and around Brixton for most of his life. He said: “It’s the best place in London. Seriously, it’s a place which has the mix of cultures, races and classes and seems to be always changing. Architecturally it’s fascinating.”

Kibwe, a qualified structural engineer who worked as an architectural assistant before starting his MA, hopes to set up a motion graphics and animation studio with friends from university when he finishes.

To follow the film’s progress visit here.