The Screen
Tender Men | Blodeuwedd's GiftHanan Issa
10 August - 17 September 2022
Hanan is a Welsh-Iraqi poet, filmmaker, and artist. Her winning monologue With Her Back Straight was performed at the Bush Theatre as part of the Hijabi Monologues. She was also part of the writersroom for Channel 4’s ground-breaking series We Are Lady Parts alongside its award-winning creator, Nida Manzoor. Hanan is co-founder of the Where I’m Coming From open mic series. She was the recipient of the 2020 Ffilm Cymru/ BBC Wales commission for her short film The Golden Apple as well as the 2021 recipient of Literature Wales’ Representing Wales Award. She is the current National Poet of Wales.
Tender Men is an exploration of masculinity from the perspective of men of colour. Ocean Vuong, Vietnamese-American writer and poet, suggests that masculinity is often realised through violent language and imagery. Beginning with a series of conversations held with men of different ethnic backgrounds, careers, and faiths, Hanan Issa has developed an audio visual re-imagining of how masculinity manifests. Tender Men was funded by National Theatre Wales’ Springboard Bursary project.
Blodeuwedd's Gift is a poem inspired by the story of ‘Blodeuwedd’ from The Mabinogion. In this folktale, a wizard punishes Blodeuwedd by transforming her into an owl and forbidding her to show her face in daylight again. Traditionally, the story is told from the male perspective, with Blodeuwedd and her mother-in-law, the goddess of the moon, characterised as ‘bad’ by not conforming to societal expectations of women. As a result, both meet sorry ends. The film is set in a modern-day city at night and follows a woman’s journey through the dark streets alone, until she becomes aware of being stalked by a shadowy figure.The film was created in collaboration with Efa Blosse-Mason, as part of New Creatives and supported by Arts Council England and BBC Arts.
Image: Still from 'Tender Men'
