Over the next few weeks you can watch Cecilia Bengolea and Jeremy Deller’s 2016 film exclusively at Fact.
Back in 2016 Cecilia Bengolea and Jeremy Deller‘s surreal short film about the fantastic, dreamlike adventures of Japanese dancehall queen Bom Bom thrilled audiences of The Infinite Mix, the storied, boundary-pushing audiovisual exhibition presented by The Vinyl Factory and the Hayward Gallery at 180 The Strand.
Bom Bom’s Dream follows the titular dancer as she travels to Kingston, Jamaica to compete in a local dancehall contest. On the way she dreams, tumbling down a dancehall rabbit hole as she is accompanied by a talkative reptilian admirer on a strange journey through a fantasy Jamaica.
Shot on location, the film highlights some of the surreal illustrations of sexuality and raw, uncompromising modes of self-expression inherent within the diverse array of movement associated with dancehall, juxtaposing Bom Bom’s psychedelic dreams of gravity-defying dance routines with the heat and dust of the yard of a shopping centre, where the climactic competition takes place.
Bom Bom’s Dream marks the second collaboration between Cecilia Bengolea and Jeremy Deller, following the 2014 film Rythmasspoetry, in which the artists explored the mix of cultures in Greater Lyon by filming a rap video with the former cultural councillor for Lyon and three dancehall dancers from Vaulx-en-Velin in the east of the Greater Lyon area.
Bom Bom’s Dream was co-commissioned by Hayward Gallery, 32nd Bienal de São Paulo and The Vinyl Factory, and co-produced by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary with support using public funding by Arts Council England
For more information about Cecilia Bengolea and her work you can follow her on Instagram.
Watch next: Cecilia Bengolea Presents – Dancehall Weather
