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Nursery Rhymes. (Holy) Water

Forum Expanded 2026
Courtesy sixpackfilm
“Rock, water, fire, air. Rock, water, fire, air ...” – the rhythmic singing of a children’s song reverberates as the performers move through a photo studio in delicate white dresses. But as the tempo accelerates and the musical theme shifts, the playful character of the rhyme gets transformed. Nursery Rhymes. (Holy) Water deals with the forced baptism of three African girls – Asue*, Gambra* and Schiama* – on July 29, 1855 in Bruneck, South Tyrol. Renamed as Johanna, Angela and Aloisia, they were symbolically stripped of their origins. But Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński’s film upsets this narrative by positioning the girls here as active agents in their own story, stubbornly resisting the act of their effacement. “What sins, we wondered, what did we do?” they chant, reinforcing their resistance with determined gazes. The film, shot on 16mm, invites us to consider how sound and image form our understanding of the past and underscores the power of Black sisterhood and creative reinterpretation to resist the erasure of history.
by Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński (Director, Screenplay)
with Joy Alphonsus, Joyce Lang, Henrie Dennis, Smarula Lang, Chioma Okoh, Obinne Wiebach-Dennis Austria / Italy 2025 English 4' Colour International premiere

With

  • Joy Alphonsus
  • Joyce Lang
  • Henrie Dennis
  • Smarula Lang
  • Chioma Okoh
  • Obinne Wiebach-Dennis

Crew

Director Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
Screenplay Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
Cinematography Lydia Nsiah
Editing Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński, Lydia Nsiah
Music Bassano Bonelli Basano
Sound Design Bassano Bonelli Bassano, Elisabeth Mtasa
Production Design Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
Costumes Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński, Delali Nuwordu
Art Director Guilherme Maggessi
Producer Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński
Executive Producers Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński, Liesa Kovacs
Co-Producer Nick Prokesch

World Sales

Sixpackfilm

Wien, Austria

Photos

Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński

© Abiona Esther Ojo

Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński’s artistic practice is manifest in multidisciplinary engagements with history and memory. Rooted in Black feminist theory, her research-based, process-oriented work examines the conditions of life in the African diaspora. She moves between documentation and speculation, creating immersive narratives that suspend linear time and fixed spatial boundaries. Kazeem-Kamiński’s works have been exhibited internationally. Her first monograph “H(a)untings / Heim-Suchungen” was published in 2023 by Sternberg Press.

Filmography (selection)

2019 The Letter 2021 Fleshbacks 2025 Nursery Rhymes. (Holy) Water; Forum Expanded 2026

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026