FKA twigs and WePresent, WeTransfer’s editorial platform, launch their latest collaboration, the short film We Are The Womxn. Directed by Ivar Wigan, the short film documents FKA twigs as she travelled to perform at Afropunk Festival in Atlanta in late 2019. There she joined forces with healer and spiritual leader Queen Afua to host a moon dance in celebration of the sacred womxn. After the moon dance, twigs led the womxn to Blue Flame: Atlanta landmark and the city’s first Black strip club. Summoning the divine feminine, together they created an environment in which womxn danced for each other.
Watch We Are The Womxn here, and read the full interview with FKA twigs and Queen Afua here.
The film captures glimpses of FKA twigs’ performance at Afropunk intertwined with scenes from both the sacred moon dance and Blue Flame, celebrating Atlanta’s dance community and rooting the craft of pole dancing in spirituality and matriarchal energy.
Empowering each other through dance and rituals, the short film shows elements of movement used by some of the first known healers. FKA twigs shares her intentions as the film progresses, “I decided to hold the second part of the all-female and femme sacred moon dance at Blue Flame, firstly to honor the heritage of pole dancing, but also to create a matriarchal dominance in a space that’s usually filled with, and run by, male energy.”
We Are The Womxn concludes FKA twigs’ year-long campaign for her album Magdalene and was filmed during her global tour. The campaign kicked off with the last FKA twigs commission from WePresent, Practice, a short film that celebrates the physical training and creative process that culminated in her GRAMMY-nominated music video ‘Cellophane.’ Practice delved deep into the making of FKA twigs’ journey to mastering the craft of pole dancing, triumphantly pushing through physical and mental boundaries.
FKA twigs shares her take on the overall experience of creating We Are The Womxn, “I’m actually pretty shy but I felt so encouraged to dance and enjoy my body by all the amazing womxn who came together. I particularly bonded with one dancer at Blue Flame [named] Kharisma. She had such vibrant energy and at the beginning of the night she called the other girls on to the stage to be admired and supported in their expression. My experience at the Blue Flame solidified that, although historically womxn are often pitched against each other for their looks or their assets by the patriarchy, when left to our own devices we are incredibly nurturing and healing for each other.”
Holly Fraser, Editor in Chief of WePresent, shares, “We are delighted to launch We Are The Womxn, the latest project in the 4 year creative partnership between FKA twigs and WePresent. Traveling to Atlanta the project sees FKA twigs explore her evolving artistry and develop a deeper understanding of herself through learning from local womxn. It is exactly these stories of intimate and candid creativity that the team at WePresent strives to tell, while allowing artists the freedom they need for creative expression. In order to detail FKA twigs’ experience as authentically as possible we also worked with Atlanta-based writer Clarissa Brooks to bring the essence of the local community to life throughout the piece.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic directly impacts the wellbeing of dancers around the world, we encourage you to donate to the Lysistrata or SWARM organizations, who provide mutual care and support for sex workers in the U.S. and U.K., respectively.
Film credits
Director: Ivar Wigan
Produced by: EVERYBODYNEEDSUS
Executive Producer: Maria Rubin and Cathleen Cher
Line Producer: Sally Oh
Production Manager: Dannah Gottlieb
Director of photography: Jamie Korn
Gaffer: Hayden Mason
Key Grip: Bryce Milburn
Swing: RJ Cassavitis
Sound: Gabe Valduri
Choreographer: Kelly Yvonne
PAs: Chris Tevebaugh, Ozzie Bunbury, Jeremy Baiden
Editor: Ruth Hegarty
Grade: Luke Morrison
Special Thanks To:
Queen Afua
Kharisma, Shaeyonce & the dancers
Brenda at Blue Flame Atlanta
Jocelyn and Matthew at Afropunk Festival
WeTransfer
FKA twigs?official site? / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter? / YouTube?
