Hi everyone! 

We've partnered up with MUBI (Opens in a new window) and we’re hosting a digital watch party on October 25th to celebrate the premiere release of revered artist Martine Syms (Opens in a new window) debut feature film, The African Desperate.

🎨 The film follows Palace Bryant, played by the deadpan Diamond Stingily (Opens in a new window), a newly minted MFA grad whose final 24 hours in art school become a hazy, hilarious, and hallucinatory night-long odyssey. The razor sharp satire, ladened with memes and a banging soundtrack, stumbles from academic critiques to parties to backseat hookups.

🧡 Zara Aftab (Opens in a new window) sat down with director Martine to talk about campus films, art school cliches and flipping the narrative and starting at the very end of the story. Read the full interview here (Opens in a new window).

🧡 Simran Hans (Opens in a new window) has penned an essay for us on the film and its scathing take on race, class and snobbery in the art world. Read the full piece here (Opens in a new window).

Sign up to MUBI today (Opens in a new window) for 30 days free and join us on the 25th of October 7pm GMT to watch The African Desperate along at home with us. Followed by a post-film discussion hosted by our Culture Editor Misha (Opens in a new window) going live to discuss the film.

We can't wait to watch with you all!

XOXO,

The Polyester Team 💕