‘Raw’ is a short film by Jordan Rita Seruya Awori that illuminates, acknowledges, and celebrates Blackness, emerging from the individual and collective experiences of the African diaspora. Centered primarily on her current experience in Germany, the piece reflects the complex emotions of living in a diaspora where Blackness is often tolerated, rather than fully embraced or celebrated.

Through this work, JRSA explores the tensions between the negativity and beauty inherent in the Black experience, capturing raw, emotional expressions that weigh these conflicting feelings. The film shows various versions of the artist, as she navigates and reconciles these emotions—occupying, understanding, embracing, fighting, and supporting herself through them.

Filmed deliberately in a simple format using only a camera phone, ‘Raw’ is an exploration of the power and beauty of emotion in its purest form.

“This is NOT a plea of acceptance; this is a show of black beauty, fears or strengths/turmoils in all its rawness,” the artist insists. “It’s a message from a black person to all black people in the diaspora.”

In creating her debut film, JRSA affirms that ‘Raw’ is an act of strength in vulnerability, inviting the viewer to interpret it without pity, but with an understanding of the multifaceted and unapologetically beautiful experience of Blackness.

The artwork uses no recognizable language, only noises that universally convey an experience.

“Noises that say more than words could ever say. Noises that are Raw!”

Text: Lizzie Richardson