An in conversation with artist Beverley Bennett, producer Sima Gonsai and cinematographer Arushi Chugh to discuss the making of Simon says/Dadda
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An in conversation with artist Beverley Bennett, producer Sima Gonsai and cinematographer Arushi Chugh to discuss the making of Simon says/Dadda
Tuesday 24 October
6pm – 8pm
The NewBridge Project Cinema Room (off the Gallery)
Free
Join us at The NewBridge Project for an in-conversation event discussing the making of Simon Says/Dadda with artist Beverley Bennett, producer Sima Gonsai and cinematographer Arushi Chugh.
Simon Says/Dadda is an exhibition by artist Beverley Bennett, exploring father/daughter relationships among Black and Asian women and non-binary individuals, highlighting the deep impact that structural inequalities have within wider society. At The NewBridge Project, Beverley has brought together for the first time the newly commissioned 3-channel film installation with a single screen film work, introducing the artist’s own voice to a constellation of testimonies and footage made over the past five years.
Image by Matt Denham
About Beverley Bennett
Beverley Bennett is an artist-filmmaker whose work revolves around the possibilities of drawing, performance and collaboration. Her practice provides spaces for participants to become collaborators and provides a point of focus from where to unpick ideas around what constitutes an art practice and for whom art is generated.
Bennett’s work has been shown nationally and internationally; venues include the British Film Institute (BFI), London (2023); Birmingham 2022 Festival (2022); CinemaAfrica Film Festival, Stockholm (2018); Encounters Short Film Festival, Bristol (2017); Wysing Art Centre, Cambridgeshire (2017); Spike Island, Bristol (2017); New Art Exchange, Nottingham (2016); National Gallery of Jamaica, Kingston (2016); Bluecoat, Liverpool (2010).
About Sima Gonsai
Sima is the film co-producer for Beverley Bennet’s Nation’s Finest, Putting Down Roots and Birthing, and Simon Says/Dadda.
Sima’s film background began in 1998 with a focus on exploring the visual language of dance.
Her working process varies with each project; from using narrative-led storytelling and the visceral language of dance and film to connect with her subjects or themes, to collaboration with differently-abled groups, visual artists, trained dancers or a combination of many of these processes at once.
Sima has shown work in Craft Council Gallery, Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery, MAC Birmingham, Flatpack Film Festival, New Art Gallery Walsall, Grand Union and The LUX, London, collaborating with organisations such as Sense Arts, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Fierce Festival and National Lottery. Award winning Moving Portraits was commissioned as part of the Commonwealth Games Cultural Programme 2022.
She has directed and produced films commissioned by 2012 Olympics, Arts Council England, Creative England, The Space, SkyArts and BBC Arts. As a programmer, Sima currently works with Flatpack Film Festival, a Midlands-based BAFTA qualifying film festival.
About Arushi Chugh
Arushi Chugh is a cinematographer from India, currently living in London. An alumni of the MA Cinematography at the NFTS, Arushi has worked on productions that won prizes like the BAFTA for Best Animated Short, Best Student Award at Hollyshorts Festival, nominated for a Royal Television Society Award, shortlisted for Best British Film at Iris Prize and broadcast on Film4.
She has worked on a FOX Star Studios feature as 2nd Unit Cinematographer and B-Camera Operator, which was released on Disney+ and Hulu in March 2023. She has worked on projects commissioned by the BFI Network, BBC, The Guardian, Lo’real and Marie Claire among others.
Arushi was also conferred the ARRI Award for Cinematography at the Chanel X BIFF Asian Film Academy in Busan in 2022.
Narratives that look at the layered relationships of characters on the periphery of society at a moment of transition are of particular interest. Supplementing them with imagery that depict the intricacies of mood, emotion and relationships through a symbolic approach to framing and lighting is her primary pursuit.
The NewBridge Project
Shieldfield Centre
4-8 Clarence Walk (off Stoddart Street)
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 1AL
The NewBridge Project is accessible. You can find out more here, or feel free to contact us prior to visiting if you require additional information regarding access and facilities.
The NewBridge Project is a charity, registered charity no. 1173849.
We are grateful to our funders, including Arts Council England, Newcastle City Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Jerwood Foundation, Community Foundation North East, Newcastle University and the The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
We are proud to be a Gallery of Sanctuary.
