BLKNWS: Terms and Conditions Berlinale
Adapted from the artist Kahlil Joseph's video exhibition that carried the same name.
BLKNWS: Terms and Conditions, Kahlil Joseph
BLKNWS: Terms and Conditions (2025) is a feature length continuation of the exhibition/art installation of the same name, which was self described as “a conceptual news program that blurs the lines between art, reporting, entrepreneurship, and cultural critique.” Keeping this in mind it makes sense that the filmic version of this would open with a strong statement proclaiming that the incoming experience “is not a documentary” which ends up acting as an awkward semi self fulfilling prophecy. Joseph’s motion picture is more akin to a tapestry or an exhibit as the experience emulates that of wandering around a very broad art gallery with a million screens. One that spans so much history and culture it feels never-ending.
On a narrative level , summing this poses a unique challenge however the film can be boiled down into essentially three moving parts interlocking into each other. The film’s first vessel is a semi adaptation of Africana : The Encyclopaedia of the African and African-American Experience by Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr. in which a kaleidoscope of the black experience from the encyclopaedia is quick cut in a expressionistic bombardment of cultural information , these moments feel like the middle ground of how the film chooses to communicate it’s ideas. It’s a balancing act of communication both by form and text. The second vessel, is the scripted segments, which is a blend of the past and the future, we follow American sociologist and scholar W.E.B. Du Bois in a pivotal moment in his life whilst in Ghana. We also jump into the future and become a fly on the wall watching over a journalist in the future find an enigmatic curator debuting her magnum opus on a sea vessel crossing a mysterious point in the ocean on the way to Ghana. The final vessel is communication of ideas purely by form, a truly exciting collection of montage aiming to showcase the many elements of the black experience ranging from almost every single source you can think of.
The experience is one that is intoxicated by its own freedom. An incredibly kinetic and free flowing stream of ideas that is intensely intertextual and formally daring. Form that feels synonymous with Adam Curtis , Arthur Jaffa and the #CoreCore trend on tiktok. Joseph is no stranger to pioneering lasting imagery within the modern cultural sphere , his previous work includes music videos and productions for some of the biggest modern musicians today (Kendrick Lamar , Beyonce). So it comes as no surprise that even though Joseph wears these influences on his sleeve , he still manages to maintain a voice that feels very singular and refreshing in today’s cinematic language.
“The experience is one that is intoxicated by its own freedom”
Throughout the roughly hundred minute experience we witness black history and culture interweaving in and out constantly to paint a picture that feels radical yet restrictive. Restricted by its own demand to be more subversive than it already is. The film’s opening statement “This is not a documentary” feels as if the film is trying to challenge itself , telling its audience what it isn’t as opposed to what it might be. Scripted segments that are beautiful to look at , truly assured in its direction but perhaps unsure of its own place within the story on display apart from a further attempt to push the notion of “This is not a documentary” and be an act of subversion. The scripted elements add a unique texture to our hypnotic tapestry of family , art , fiction , fact , the future , the present and past but ultimately weighs down the impact of some of the more poignant moments of archival footage and montage. It’s all here, but does feel a little unfocused at points ebbing and flowing between such a dense amount of text. The focus on Africa in particular felt quite refreshing , choosing to focus on a subject that is often ignored by western artists exploring the contemporary black experience.
The film’s weakest sequences still feel so incredibly unique even if the text fails to hit the emotional and intellectual notes it’s intending, but still the filmmaking on display is hypnotic , the audio video collages puts us into a trance. And the film’s strongest moments become something truly mesmerising , creating an imagery that sears into your mind with just how moving and emotionally stirring it is. One such sequence built around the use of Tiktoks , YouTube videos and other social media contents set to Aphex Twin’s Nanou 2. It feels so familiar to what we see on a daily basis almost yet the lens Joseph chooses with his craft. It causes Something so familiar to feel so incredibly thunderous. It’s equal parts intellectually and emotionally enthralling.
However, due to just how incredibly dense the film is, it sadly buckles under its own weight , so much information and so many ideas in such little time that the overall experience feels much longer than it actually is. Softening the impact of some of the more poignant moments. This need to brush away the idea that this could be a documentary for something closer to an art installation in a museum leads to an experience that as a whole piece is powerful and sprawling but does get tiresome. Overall I found this to be a moving piece of cinema , one that is incredibly unique , honest and poignant in its use of intertextuality to explore the black diaspora future , present and past. Backed by some really exciting filmmaking but let down by scripted segments and pacing that makes for a very long experience. Joseph’s form is as frustrating as it is invigorating.
Release Date: February 19th 2025
Directed by Kahlil Joseph
Written by Kahlil Joseph, Saidiya Hartman, Irvin Hunt, Madebo Fatunde, Kristen Adele Calhoun, Christina Sharpe, Kaneza Schaal, Onye Anyanwu
Produced by James Shani, Anikah McLaren, David Linde, Steven Soderbergh
With Kaneza Schaal, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Hope Giselle, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Funmilayo Akechukwu, Peter Jay Fernandez, Anthony Okungbowa, Zora Casebere, Penny Johnson Jerald, John Tijani
Cinematography by Bradford Young
Runtime: 113 minutes.