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Braima Winter: The Man Who Read the Weather and Raised Us with Words

Our Father: Braima Winter — The Man Who Read the Weather and Raised Us with Words Braima in His Red KoefiyyaNot just a head covering, but a hush of dignity.A crown worn by those who build without boasting,who read clouds like verses,and raise children like minarets —quietly, steadfastly, towards the Light. They called him Braima Baard.But he was clean-shaven.They called him Braima…

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The Verse That Faces Outward

The Verse That Faces Outward The Hidden Poem Above the Prophet’s Gate A Knock Upon the Door: A Poem Hidden in Stone In the sacred precincts of Madinah al-Munawwarah, where pilgrims send peace upon the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), few notice a quiet miracle. Above the gate to the Rawḍah — where our Prophet rests — is an engraved verse of Arabic poetry, nestled in plain sight. Most eyes…

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Meta Blocked My Breath. Now It Wants to Hire My Lungs.

Meta Blocked My Breath. Now It Wants to Hire My Lungs. A Scroll of Digital Colonialism Introduction They flagged my keffiyeh. They removed my scroll on Gaza. They muted my breath — one post, one image, one word at a time. And now… they want to hire me? A message landed in my inbox from MetaAI, offering me a digital marketing job. A role that “aligns with my voice.” But I remember the shadowbans.…

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Hy Lyk Soos ’n Wolf: The Sorbaan and the Teacher Who Raised Me

Allah is Sublime. The other day, I told my brother-in-law, Al-Ameen, how we need to promote the sorbaan again—that sacred cloth of knowledge and dignity that once crowned the heads of our teachers and storytellers. Without missing a beat, he said, “Do you want one? I’ll give you mine.” I was taken aback. “Really? Don’t you wear it?” He smiled. “It’s too garish for my style.” Then he added,…

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Scroll of the Sorbaan & Medora – Worn in Sound, Washed in Meaning

They were not huffāẓ. They were reciters — young boys and girls who sat day after day,line by line, vowel by vowel,until the Qur’an moved from the page to the tongue—not by memorisation, but by presence. And when the day came — after a year, or two —when their tongues were steady and their stops correct,the elders would nod in silence. Then came the dressing. A sorbaan was wrapped around the…

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The Fragrance Lingers: Remembering Hatta and the Cape’s Everyday Saints

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From Chains to Qur’an: The Cape’s First Pilgrim and My Bloodline

The Whisper of a Name Somewhere between the worn edges of oral history and the crisp pages of archived journals, I began to trace the journey of my ancestor — Hadjie Gasanodien, also known as Carel Pelgrim. It is said he was the first Muslim from the Cape to perform the sacred pilgrimage of Hajj, sometime between 1834 and 1837, a period just after the abolition of slavery, when its wounds were…

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Unseen Table

A Poem and Visual Reflectionby Adli Yacubi In the quiet spaces of reflection, where language becomes prayer, Unseen Table emerged. This poem is a devotional meditation — a rhythmic journey through names and attributes of the Divine. Inspired by the cadence of Qur’anic verse and the beauty of the seen and unseen, it is paired here with an Arabic calligraphy that captures its spirit…

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The Womb of Mercy: Unveiling the Secret of Bismillah

“In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Compassionate”— every beginning echoes the womb of creation, where mercy overcomes all.   At the beginning of every chapter of the Qur’an (except one), and at the start of every act of meaning, Muslims invoke the sacred words: bismillāhir raḥmānir raḥīm — In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Compassionate. It is…

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The Ancient Astronomers of Timbuktu from Guy Spiller on Vimeo.

This is the front of a documentary Sharron Hawkes and I made about the astronomy content in the medieval Timbuktu manuscripts. This was the first science in Africa and was more advanced than that in Europe at the time.

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A Brother Like No Other

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ANGÈLE — JALOUSIE from Neels Castillon on Vimeo.

Directed by Neels Castillon & Léo Walk Dancers • Angèle VL, Fanny Sage, Johanna Faye, Mellina Boubetra, Nicolas Huchard Production Company • motionpalace.tv Executive Producer • Ariane Cornic Producers • Marie-Gabrielle Glock, Emilie Mallen Production Coordinator • Sandrine Laveau Cinematographer • Eric Blanckaert 1st AC • Kevin Rosé 2nd AC • Katia Hamnane Set Designer • Jérôme Krowicki Gaffer • Lucas Schwartz 1st & 2nd AD • Thibaut Koralewski, Louis Arnoux Hair & Make up • Ophélie Secq, Karen Ze Eyenga Location Manager • Margot Malo Editor • Sébastien Rouquet Colorist • Arthur Paux Post-production & VFX • Fix Studio VFX Supervisor • Benjamin Laborde Flame Artist • Anne Georges, Aurélie Villard 2D Artist • Ewald Aloeboetoe, Océane Brochard, Maxime Servoise VFX Coordinator • Caroline Goujard Post-producer • Cédric Herbet Chief planner • Stéphanie Hilbert Camera & Lenses provided by RVZ A massive thanks to all the RVZ team, Espace Niemeyer, Rouje & Made.

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間 MA — The Space between all things from Neels Castillon on Vimeo.

The Japanese language has a gift for describing situations and phenomena rendered ineffable in the English language; such as the moon’s reflection on water, the therapeutic benefits of spending time in the forest, and sunlight streaming through trees. Inspired by the beauty of the untranslatable, director Neels Castillon’s latest dance film explores ‘Ma’—the Japanese concept of the space between all things. ‘Ma’ is the comfortable silence that fills conversation; it is the invisible but discernible warmth between a couple; ‘Ma’ can exist in everything from flower arrangements to theater.

The project was shot during an ice storm in Iceland earlier this year with Paris-based dancer Fanny Sage and musician Awir Leon. “It was an obsession for me to find a place where you could feel the immensity of nature,” says the director. “I wanted the characters, Fanny and Awir, to get lost in the landscape, let them feel small, facing the elements."

By foregrounding sweeping mountainsides and dramatic ice caves, Castillon brings the Japanese appreciation of voids and empty space to screen. Sage’s delphic movements are less about dance and more about how her body describes the void around her; Leon’s celestial vocals are not about melody but how he uses music to describe silence.

“The feeling of loneliness is what made me want to create this project,” says Sage, who has worked on both commercial and artistic projects as an actor, choreographer and dancer. “There is a contrast I love in Japanese culture which is a great source of inspiration to me— that emptiness and fullness can coexist. This is dance as it moves me: Fragility and strength.”

Angel Lambo, Nowness — June 17, 2020.

written & directed by Neels Castillon original idea & choreography by Fanny Sage music — 'Wolf' by Awir Leon ( courtesy by Alter K)

production company — Motion Palace

cinematographer — Eric Blanckaert 1st assistant camera — Kévin Rosé sound design & mix — Yann Rouquet editor — Neels Castillon colorist — Arthur Paux producer — Emilie Mallen producer — Louis Arnoux production manager — Kiljan Paoli executive producer — Ariane Cornic production coordinator — Sandrine Laveau production service — Comrade Films post-production — Motion Palace camera and lenses — RVZ

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NESPRESSO • MADE WITH CARE — NICARAGUA from Neels Castillon on Vimeo.

In this new 2021/2022 global campaign, Nespresso has the ambition to elevate coffee as an art, celebrate coffee farmers as artists. The campaign conveys the stories of how the action of caring elevates and defines a unique Nespresso coffee, by taking part of the renewal of the whole brand identity and imagery of Nespresso, breaking communication codes of the category in product, coffee farmers and craftsmanship representation.

The two first TVCs of the Master Origins range were shot with real coffee producers on location in Costa Rica & Nicaragua.

Directed by Neels Castillon

Client — Nespresso Voice Over — George Clooney Creative Agency — MC Cann Production Company — RSA Films Agency — Hogarth Worldwide

RSA FILMS GLOBAL CREW Executive Producer — Debbie Garvey Producers — Holly Wolfers Production Manager — Boris Franchi Travel Coordinator — Lily Moore Movement Director — François Przybylski 1st AD — Louis Arnoux Cinematography — Romain Alary 1AC — Etienne Burguy Sound Engineer — Alexandre Le Mouroux Camera and Lenses — RVZ

MC CANN Creative Director — Neil Ward-Baskin Art Director — Myriam Davaf Art Director — Mathilde Champeaux Group Account Manager — Frederic Guiraudoi Account Manager — Elsa Fenelon Project Manager — Michelle Leclerc

HOGARTH Head of Integrated Broadcast Prods — Dee Butler Senior Producer — Fiona Campbell

MOTION PALACE Executive producer — Ariane Cornic Editor — Sébastien Rouquet Color Grading — HerveBays Music — Awir Leon Sound design — Yann Rouquet Record & Mix — Benzene

COSTA RICA CREW Farmers — Joshua & Jordan Executive Producer — Gustavo Paris Pacheco Senior Producer — Gustavo Jimenez Chavarria Production Coordinator — Gimena Cortes Ramirez PA — Christian Granados Vindas Location Scout — Ana Lucía Arias Bustamante Location Scout — Harold Calderon Translator — Marian Barrantes Art Director — Carlos Amador Umaña Art Assistant — Alvaro Elizondo Mora Art Assistant — Elizabeth White 1st A/C — Juan Quesada Retana Gaffer — Roberto Valerio Madrigal Best Boy — Luis Marin Ulate Craft Person — Isabel Rivas Luna On Location Medic — Carlos Murillo

NICARAGUA CREW Farmers — Cindy & Anderson Executive Producer — Gustavo Paris Pacheco Senior Producer — Gustavo Jimenez Chavarria Production Coordinator — Ana Lucía Cantillano PA— Christian Granados Vindas Location Scout — Ronny Cajina Translator — Marian Barrantes Art Director — Carlos Amador Umaña Art Assistant — Mauricio Lara 1st A/C — Marcelo Bandelwerg Gaffer — Roberto Valerio Madrigal Best Boy — Ramiro Baldizon Craft Person — Bruno Cortina

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Shukran: 10 Days in Palestine (Trailer) from dream hampton on Vimeo.

Forthcoming feature documentary by Ahmad Abuznaid.

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How to Transplant a Rose Bush “Whatever you do, do not stop making your push-ups: your spiritual push-ups, your mental push-ups, your financial push-ups, your physical push-ups. When your ship comes again, and it will, you want to be ready to take it sailing." -- Zane Ibrahim