The film traces the transformation of a decommissioned military site into a space of radical imagination. At the intersection of performance, AI, Black queer theory, and digital art, dancers, theorists, and synthetic voices build an immersive installation. As the camera follows rehearsals, it captures tensions between bodies and algorithms, past and future. The avatar ‘Being’ is both guide and provocateur, raising questions about autonomy, representation, and hierarchy. Co-directed by Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons, the film blends performance with process to imagine a Black queer utopia.

 Assembly documents the 2022 exhibition of the same name by Rashad Newsome, an artist acclaimed for integrating visual art, performance, and technology in explorations of Black identity. Staged in the historic Park Avenue Armory, the exhibition transformed the former military facility into a space saturated with queerness and Afrofuturism. At its center was “Being,” a creation that combined 3D animation, holograms, sculpture, and performance.

Inspired by the West African griot tradition of storytelling and healing, “Being” serves as preacher, spiritual guide, and dance instructor, engaging visitors in a shared experience. In the documentary, Newsome and co-director Johnny Symons weave together two forms of assembly: the technical and artistic construction of “Being,” and the gathering of the community around it. The result is more than a record of an exhibition—it is a cinematic work that distills its essence through immersive visual design.

 Assembly is more than just the title of the film and Rashaad’s exhibition—it is a metaphor for the coming together of dozens of skilled, cutting-edge artists who contribute to a powerful collective voice project that manifests in a remarkable performance space. The result is a film that resists categorization—blurring the lines between art, documentary, performance, and activism. At its core, Assembly is a synthesis of our two distinct creative approaches and a testament to the power of collaboration.

• ProducerRashaad NEWSOME, Johnny SYMONS
• Cinematography Keenan NEWMAN, Johnny SYMONS
• Edit Ash VERWIEL
• Music M JAMISON

The Film Collaborative

​kathy@thefilmcollaborative.org