movie premiere: yoruba orishas and black mermaids come to life in this powerful stop-motion film

‘The Water Will Carry Us’ is a gripping, powerful film that tells the story of stolen Africans being thrown from the slave ship during the Middle Passage. But upon crashing into the waves, the unimaginable happens with Yoruba Orishas dwelling in the waters to save these spirits. With the use of some gorgeous stop-motion animation, artist Gabrielle Tesfaye brings the mythology of mermaids and Orishas to us in this AFROPUNK premiere.

“For a long time now I have been called to create a film about our ancestors stolen from Africa, and thrown overboard the slave ships,” Gabrielle Tesfaye tells AFROPUNK. “I chose to combine my painted puppets in stop motion and live ritual footage, to make it relatable, and show the magical workings of the spirit realm and past through the animation. My hope for this film is that it tenderly touches all hearts within the African Diaspora, and a remembrance that even in our heaviest pain, we have never been alone.”

Music

Ibeyi “Ellegua” Opening Song
Kenn. C. “Spectra” Middle Song

http://www.gabrielletesfaye.com/Instagram @tesfayetra