An Irish filmmaker is seeking to raise $8000 to produce a medieval rap movie. The Quickener is described as “a fast-paced medieval drama, set during the year the Black Death struck England. It is dotted with battles of wits, moments of epiphany and flashes of otherworldly activity and yes, all the dialogue is spoken in the rhymes and rhythms of rap and performance poetry.”
The project is the brainchild of Joel Wilson, who is directing the film. He tells Medievalists.net that he has long been interested in both the Middle Ages and hip-hop culture and has been seeking a way to bring them together. “Around the globe, hip-hop has been embraced in all its current guises”, he explains”: the school ground battle, the bling, the socially conscious, the pop song interlude and yet it feels like we’re just scratching the surface of what hip-hop music can accomplish. Artists like Buck65 or Prince Paul have woven numerous hip-hop songs into lengthy narratives and hip-hop spoken word performers Polarbear or Jon Berkavitch are exceptional storytellers. And Nas and Damian Marley genuinely blazed a positive trail recently with their Distant Relatives album. There is hope."
Click here to read this article from Medievalists.net
