FERRAPY
Sephora Woldu | San Francisco | USA/Eritrea
Ferrapy (n): The act of riding the San Francisco Bay Ferry to clear
one's head. More than a ferry ride, it's accepting that you could use
some help— and self prescribing some fresh air as a start. Departing
at Gate G from San Francisco to Oakland, it's going a short physical
distance to traverse magnitudes mentally. It's checking in with
friends and family. Checking in with yourself. It's deciding to try
therapy.
Some quick facts about Ferrapy:
01. I thought I made up the word, but apparently there is an entire
community online who use ferrets (the animal) in therapy and they also
call it "ferrapy". The internet remains undefeated.
02. My mom is speaking to me in Tigrinya, and the translations are not
perfect. After a phone conversation I asked her for direct
interpretations of each subtitle, and this is what she came up with.
As an Eritrean American with limited proficiency in my cultural
language, I used to be self conscious about using Tigrinya in my work,
but I have learned to accept the fact that things might get lost in
translation. Language is an agreement and this is what my mom and I
agreed on.
03. My friends who joined me on the ferry are amazing people and
artists and you can learn more about them below.
ASTU — ww.astumusic.com
Joonbug — www.bugs87.com
Ace "Arrington West — www.shineonlosers.com
Ed Ntiri — www.ntirie.com/
Nnena Ukuku — www.venturegainedlegal.com
Sanford Jenkins — www.sanfordjenkins.com
artist statement
Ferrapy started as a personal routine, expanded into something I did
with close friends/ fellow artists, and then into a film project. The
entire thing is shot in 4K on an iPhone X and edited in Adobe Premiere
Pro. In the same way that I hope that ferrapy/ therapy becomes
something more normalized/ accessible in Black cultures, I hope that
filmmaking does too. Small moments and things that we in the diaspora
do to maintain ourselves are worthy of documentation, and honestly
sometimes we can surprise ourselves. If you are reading this I hope
you do something to remember how you handled this year. And if you are
in the Bay, GO FORTH AND FERRY.
Production Credits
Director : Sephora Woldu
Speaker: Almaz Negash
Music: "In the End" by Skinshape
Special thanks: Ace West, ASTU, Ed Ntiri, Joonbug, Nnena
about the artist
OTHER WORK FEATURED TODAY
