Jenn Nkiru | Dream Space Podcast – Factory International

In this episode our dreamer is the brilliant Jenn Nkiru. An award-winning artist, director, and visionary filmmaker from Peckham, Jenn's work is rooted in Black music history, Afro-surrealism, experimental film, and the Black arts movement.

Jenn Nkiru's distinctive filmmaking style, which she describes as “cosmic archaeology,” switches between eras and locations. She has directed documentaries, cinematic shorts, and the critically acclaimed music video for Beyoncé's "Brown Skin Girl," which won the Best Music Video award at the 2021 Grammys.

For Factory International, Jenn is creating a brand new film reflecting on space, time, and memory, intertwining Manchester’s industrial history with modern-day architecture, and paying homage to the people and culture of the city. Explore Jenn Nkiru's visionary work in this captivating podcast interview.

Photo © Rosaline Shahnavaz

About the Series

What does art have the power or potential to do, when we allow ourselves to dream?

Gemma Cairney poses this questions to some of the world’s most exciting artistic minds in a new podcast from Factory International.

In each episode we get to know our guest, find out what makes them tick, what brings them joy and inspiration. Together we create a new vision, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and ask what kind of art the world needs now.

Contributors

Gemma Cairney (she/her)
Host
Gemma Cairney is a multi award-winning broadcaster, author and activist. Gemma’s documentary radio series include The Leisure Society for BBC 6 Music and The Sound Odyssey for BBC Radio 4. Previous radio credits include: Island Sounds, Dolly, Dylan or Daft Punk, and Mali Music (BBC 6 Music). Tempted By Teacher and Bruising Silence (BBC Radio 1) garnered two Sony Golds and her interview with Grace Jones, Amazing Grace, (BBC 6 Music) won the Best Music Show Rose d’Or. Her latest book, The Immortal Sisterhood, will soon be published by Canongate.
Kit Callin (they/them)
Producer
Kit is a senior audio producer at Reduced Listening, making music radio for the BBC, and arts podcasts for organisations like Serpentine and Factory International. They are the founder of MOOAR Residency, and run a variety of workshops and audio open mic nights to support others getting into audio. Kit won Best Music Producer at the Audio Production Awards 2023.
Tess Davidson (she/her)
Producer
Tess is an award-winning freelance audio producer and writer with a background in broadcast and print journalism, working across long-form narrative documentaries, and arts and culture features. She has produced for organisations such as the Tate Britain and the Serpentine, as well for BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and RTÉ in Ireland. She recently won bronze for Best New Producer in the UK’s Audio Production Awards and was awarded the Prix Europa Ake Blomström Award in 2023.
Femi Oriogun-Williams (they/them)
Sound Designer
Femi Oriogun-Williams is a musician, writer, audio producer and educator born at 00:00 under a Taurus moon to a room of laughing people. They have produced audio for Somerset House, Serpentine Gallery, Radio 4 and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts. They have also composed original music for Jay Bernard’s theatre piece Joint, and Crystals of this Social Substance, a 32-Channel sound installation exhibited at the Serpentine Pavilion. They have received ACE funding and been commissioned by the Goethe Institut to create two original pieces of radio: both the cyberspace punk opera OK Galexa, and the radio drama My Friends Nina+James. They are currently an Associate Lecturer of Audio production at Goldsmiths.
Carmel Smickersgill (she/her)
Composer
Carmel is a Manchester based composer working predominantly within electronic DIY, classical and theatre music. She released her debut EP We Get What We Get and We Don’t Get Upset in 2022 with PRAH recordings. She was a 2021 recipient of the Jerwood Live Art Award, a 2020 nominee for the Ivor Novello Rising Star Award and a 2019 recipient of the Rushworth Composing Prize with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Dan Jackson (he/him)
Exec Producer
Dan is the Head of Production at Reduced Listening with twenty years' experience making TV, Radio and Podcasts at ITV, the BBC and indies. He works across all Reduced Listening productions, to support directors, staff and freelancers and takes care of business affairs, contracts and production planning. Dan is also an Executive Producer working in factual and video content with visual oversight of Pod Save the UK.
Scott Smith (He/Him)
Head of Digital Content
Scott heads up the Digital Content team at Factory International and Exec Produces content-led projects.
Alex Mannion-Jones (he/him)
Digital Content Producer
Alex is the Digital Content Producer at Factory International where he produces our video and audio content.

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