pepsi, cola, water?
“pepsi, cola, water?” is a short experimental documentary about Sun Ra’s legendary visit to Egypt in 1971.
Jazz pioneer and philosopher Sun Ra had a deep fascination with outer space and ancient Egypt. Computer animation, archival footage, and music from Sun Ra are interwoven to create a recreation/celebration of his legendary visit to Egypt in 1971.
The result is a film as far out as Sun Ra himself.
“pepsi, cola, water?” was made in collaboration with Medrar for Contemporary Art in Cairo, Egypt and SoundImageCulture, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund and Didier Volckaert in Brussels, Belgium.
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Tom BogaertDirector
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Project Type:Documentary, Experimental, Short
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Runtime:9 minutes 18 seconds
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Completion Date:April 29, 2015
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Production Budget:2,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Egypt
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Country of Filming:Egypt
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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CURTA CINEMA International Short Film FestivalRio de Janeiro
Brazil
November 15, 2015
World Premiere
Official Selection International Competition -
DOXA Documentary Film FestivalVancouver
Canada
May 9, 2016
North American Premiere -
VIDEOEXZurich
Switzerland
May 28, 2016
European Premiere
First Price Swiss Competition -
MIEFF Moscow International Experimental Film FestivalMoscow
Russian Federation
July 22, 2016
Russian Premiere
Official Selection International Competition -
TRANSART TRIENNALEBerlin
Germany
August 6, 2016
German Premiere -
MOSAIC ROOMSLondon
United Kingdom
August 10, 2016
UK Premiere -
HI Harlem International Film FestivalNew York City
United States
September 14, 2016
US Premiere -
SIC Sound Image CultureBeursschouwburg Brussels
Belgium
September 22, 2016
Belgian Premiere -
Kassel DokfestKassel
Germany
November 19, 2016
German Festival Premiere -
BAFF Brussels Art Film FestivalCINEMATEK Brussels
Belgium
November 20, 2016
Official Selection Prix du Film sur l’Art -
SAVVY ContemporaryBerlin
Germany
December 15, 2016 -
Cairo Video FestivalCairo
Egypt
February 5, 2017
MENA Premiere -
Imagine Science Film FestivalAbu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
March 2, 2017
GCC Premiere
Official Selection International Competition -
VIDEOFORMESClermont-Ferrand
France
March 15, 2017
French Premiere
Official Selection Prix VIDEOFORMES 2017 -
Athens International Film and Video FestivalAthens
United States
April 4, 2017
Official Selection International Competition -
Experiments in CinemaAlbuquerque
United States
April 20, 2017 -
Hamburg International Short Film Festival @ ResonanzraumHamburg
Germany
May 11, 2017 -
Bideodromo Film FestivalBilbao
Spain
September 10, 2017
Spanish Premiere -
The Unforeseen International experimental film festivalBelgrade
Serbia
November 17, 2017
Serbian Premiere -
Espaco GalleryAlgiers
Algeria
November 25, 2017
Algerian Premiere -
Videodrunk Film FestivalToronto
Canada
November 30, 2017 -
Montevideo Fantastic Film FestivalMontevideo
Uruguay
December 13, 2017
Uruguayan Premiere
Official Selection Audience Choice Award -
Avant ArabiaAbu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
March 6, 2018 -
VIDEOEX 20Zurich
Switzerland
May 29, 2018
KinoX -
Tse Tse Fly Middle EastBath
United Kingdom
June 2, 2018
Fringe Arts Bath -
A.M. Qattan FoundationRamallah
Palestine, State of
July 23, 2018
Palestinian Premiere -
ART 27Heusden-Zolder
Belgium
November 1, 2018
Flemish Premiere -
Sharjah Film PlatformSharjah
United Arab Emirates
November 14, 2020
Official Selection -
bb15 - Space for Contemporary ArtLinz
Austria
May 1, 2021
Austrian Premiere -
documenta fifteenKassel
Germany
September 4, 2022
lumbung film -
conjuring creativityStockholm
Sweden
October 22, 2022
Scandinavian premiere
Tom Bogaert came to art over a decade ago after practicing refugee law. His artistic practice is organised through long-term research projects that often examine the intersection of humanism and human rights, politics and entertainment, and art and propaganda.
Bogaert moved to Amman, Jordan in 2009 and has since produced a series of works under a project called ‘Impression, mena’ which draws from his experience as a foreigner living and working in the Middle East and North Africa—before, during and after the events of the Arab Spring. Tom Bogaert uses irony and criticism to interrogate the layers of his own understanding of contemporary issues throughout the region.
This video is about Afro-futurism, Black Power, revolutions, expectations and disappointments.
Very little has been documented about Sun Ra’s visit to Egypt, but it is often described as a synthesis of ideas years before its time, a self-fulfilling prophesy of Afro-futurism which married activism with science fiction and ancient spirituality.
The video draws on my research in Egypt, Italy, and Germany in 2013 and 2014, in the course of which I attended an Arkestra concert and had multiple interviews and conversations with Hartmut Geerken, a free jazz artist who had originally invited Sun Ra to come to Egypt, Marshall Allen, the longtime Arkestra bandleader, and Ahmed Aladdin the grandson of Egyptian drummer and jazz musician Salah Ragab, who collaborated with Sun Ra in several performances in Egypt.
Ra’s deep passion for the history of Africa was demonstrated in his excavation of Egypt as the root of modern civilization asserting that much of the Grecian influences from the great philosophical thinkers to their artistic achievements were derived and stolen from black Egyptians. His journey would not be complete before reaching the source itself—Africa.
Sun Ra, I think, traveled to Africa in 1971 with the expectation of some sort of 'homecoming' experience. It seems however that his expectations were not entirely fulfilled and Sun Ra left Egypt angry and disappointed. “pepsi, cola, water?” opens up these overlooked moments in Sun Ra’s history and, in the absence of substantial documentation of this period, approaches them with a speculative and imaginative spirit akin to Sun Ra’s own.
Tom Bogaert
Cairo 2015