Slavery in the Age of Revolution
We were commissioned to make a documentary film for Balliol College, Oxford University, to support their public exhibition, entitled Slavery in The Age of Revolution, which encouraged an exploration and understanding of their history and links to the trade in enslaved people from African kingdoms to the Caribbean islands.
Underpinned with deep academic research, the exhibition looked at manuscripts, papers and artefacts linked to the transatlantic slave trade from within the College's historic collection, going back hundreds of years.
It was fitting that the symmetry of old paper manuscripts informed and created often overlooked narratives of the enslaved, artistically expressed in specially commissioned paper dioramas. The accuracy of the exhibition artefacts and academic research underpinned and informed our film-making process throughout.
We made, and then photographed and filmed the paper artwork to bring the audience closer to the reality - and make them feel “inside the scene”. The curators at Balliol College were so moved by the 3D paper dioramas that they included them in the public exhibition, alongside their own artefacts.