‘How Do They See Us?’ is a short film by Jordan Rita Seruya Awori (JRSA) that offers a meditation on the voice of those on the periphery, contemplating what this voice signifies and the potential it holds for transformation. The work explores the notion of marginality, questioning how it should be understood and expressed in opposition to an oppressor, and highlighting the limitations of any simplistic binary. Instead, it opens up a more intricate set of positions that delve deeper into the complexities of identity and expression.

In the film, JRSA resists the idea of the peripheral voice as singular and unified, instead drawing on Freud’s tripartite model of the human psyche to illustrate the contradictions within this expression. In the tension between the Id, the Ego, and the Super-Ego, the film reflects on the various responses to the question of "How do they see us?" It reveals the struggles of living in opposition to an imposed definition, echoing Du Bois' concept of "double consciousness"—the condition of always being perceived through the lens of others. Central to this struggle is the challenge of constructing new modes of recognition, of asserting one's identity and form of expression beyond the gaze of the oppressor.

The film remains ambivalent about the implications of recognition for those on the periphery, simultaneously performing the limitations and the potential of words. By doing so, JRSA highlights the possibilities for collective experience through shared expression, even in the face of division.