Live from TEDGlobal 2017 TED Conferences

Great shorts: The lineup of short films and video played at TEDGlobal 2017

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How does TED complement a program of speakers sharing bold ideas, tough truths and jaw-dropping creative visions at TEDGlobal 2017 in Arusha? With interstitials: the beautiful, funny, inspiring, silly, short video breaks screened in between speakers.

Pulling from a global pool of creativity, talent and thoughtfulness, this year’s TEDGlobal interstitial lineup boasts many films directed, produced, written or prominently featuring African and diaspora artists. Enjoy the sixteen interstitials shown at TEDGlobal 2017 that got our creative juices flowing, our dancing shoes tapping and our hearts beaming.

Title: “We are KOKOKO!”

The short: Meet KOKOKO!: The energetic and explosive musical group creating new sounds with instruments they make, inspiring a thriving alternative dance in Kinshasa, D.R.Congo. (We edited it down for the TED stage.)
Creator: La Belle Kinoise

Title: “Ethiopia!”

The short: A mouth-watering (and toe-tapping) look into the making of injera, False Banana and Coffee Arabica and other staples of Ethiopian coffee.

Creators: Directed and Edited by Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine

Title: “Herencia de Un Pueblo (Inheriting a Legacy)” (trailer)

The short: Set in the vibrant Peruvian town of El Carmen, this film highlights the people, town and dance legacy of African descendants of the diaspora.

Creator: Directed by Carmen Román

Title: “A Small Escape”

The short: An animated film about a pair of scissors trying to escape a kitchen that will leave you cheering for your craft supplies!

Creator: Directed by David Sandell

Title: ”WoodSwimmer”

The short: Practically hypnotic, “Woodsimmer” is a music video made entirely of cross-sectional photographic scans of pieces of hardwood, burls and branches.

Creator: Directed by Brett Foxwell

Title: Sons of Kemet, “In the Castle of My Skin”

The short: An imaginative dance video with fun choreography to match an upbeat tune.

Creator: Directed by Lebogang Rasethaba. Production Company: Arcade Content

Title: ASA, “A Call to Dance in Senegal”

The short: The beautiful and haunting dance film featuring the incredibly talented Senagalese dancers Khoudia Toure and Pierre Belleka, otherwise known as Dexter.

Creator: Directed by Diane Fardoun

Title: “Salvation”

The short: A quick and mesmerizing journey through time from the birth of a planet to the growth of the human race, all created from a multitude of found objects salvaged from car-boot sales and flea markets around London!

Creators: Directed by Noah Harris & Andy Biddle. Production Company: Blinkink.

Title: “The Tale of Ikiré Jones”

The short: Clothing company Ikiré Jones is the brainchild of two first-generation children from Nigeria and Cambodia, Walé Oyéjidé, a TEDGlobal Fellow, and Samuel Hubler, creating an Afro-futurist take on the modern suit.

Creator: Directed by J.M. Harper

Title: “Mapping Zanzibar Using Low-Cost Drones”

The short: The inspiring story of how the Zanzibar mapping initiative is creating a high-resolution map of the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, using low-cost drones instead of satellite images or manned planes to assist with better planning, land tenure and environmental monitoring.

Creator: World Bank Africa

Title: 2016 AICP Sponsor Reel

The short: This colorful video remix of Major Lazer’s “Light It Up” is a celebration of global creativity and some truly epic dance moves.

Creators: Concept, Design and Direction by Method Studios. Directed by Rupert Burton. Creative Director, Jon Noorlander. Music: Major Lazer “Light It Up” (Remix)

Title: “Shanty-Megastructures”

The short: An artistic, visual conversation on how slums are frequently viewed as unsightly eyesores to be bulldozed, leaving their inhabitants completely displaced.

Creator: Directed by Olalekan Jeyifous

Title: “Gift”

The short: A poetic film teaching us about perception from the vantage of a young child who dances to the sounds of his fears to find his freedom to re-imagine his life.

Creator: Directed by: Dan Mace

Title: “Blooms”

The short: A spellbinding look at Blooms, 3-D printed sculptures designed to animate as a single self-contained sculpture when spun under a strobe light .

Creators: John Edmark, Artist. Cinematography and editing by Charlie Nordstrom

Title: “Words”

The short: An exploration of the expression of words and their creation of the visual world around us, with an eye on “the fundamentals of natural laws and laws of nature themselves.”

Creators: Concept/Design/Animation by Enle Li & Liz Xiong

Title: “Woodoo”

The short: A fun and quirky stop-motion study of wood that brings its shape and consistency to life.

Creator: Directed by Andre Maat