Black Strangers

An intimate filmic conversation on belonging: after seeing him mentioned in a bishop’s transcript held in a Gloucestershire archive, Dan goes for a walk in the woods in search of Daniel, a man buried in Nympsfield on December 31, 1719 and described on the document as “a black stranger”. Whilst walking, Dan talks directly to Daniel, speculating about the potential parallels between him and his namesake, from walking routes and speeds to shoe sizes and foot lumps, and opening up to Daniel about how he’s also been made to feel like a black stranger in Gloucestershire after his involvement in a contested heritage debate in his hometown of Stroud. Dan then goes on to wrestle aloud with the problems that come with trying to read the archive at face value and fill in its gaps before trying to think up a fitting way to celebrate the departed Daniel.