The track titled “Things you learn when your father leaves” from Wana Udobang’s poetry album has been adapted into a short film

Earlier this year, Wana Udobang released her latest spoken word album titled Transcendence. The album can be purchased on Apple Music.  It features eleven tracks that blend her signature spoken word poetry with music by jazz guitarist and longtime collaborator, Femi Leye.

Udobang explains the themes behind the album in a post on her website,

Transcendence in many ways was me coming undone, a collection of memories and stories and also a meditation in personal healing and re-imagination.

The film, which is directed by Tolu Ajayi and Abiola Sobo, conveys some of these themes in vivid representations of a body in transformation.

The film delivers an immersive sensory experience, from the stunning photography to Leye’s contemplative piano and Udobang’s alluring voice. It juxtaposes the black and white lines of vehicles on city pavement with a blue-green floating ocean sequence.

The poem’s flow of ideas moves with the flow of white fabric billowing in the waves of water. Udobang’s poem is an anthem of defiance, and the visual storytelling captures that beautifully. Threads of movement stitches these juxtaposed scenes together. Udobang refrains throughout the poem, imploring to the listener and a memory of herself, “You never stop moving.”

Click below to watch!