Film Repertory
Jaffaman: Short film by Oliver Ashton (8 mins)
The Jaffaman is a futurist dance travelogue of one b-boy's journey to keep on 'dancing' through the mean streets of life. Shot in a supa-fly style that fuses late 70s New York with today's London, the film features a searing soundtrack from Hip Hop don, DJ Billy Biznizz.
Choreographer Robert Hylton is the lead man whose fancy footwork saves his soul from the devil and loses his heart to true love. The Jaffaman is a powerful and uplifting antidote to the crushing anonymity of crazy modern life.
The film received a rapturous reception at its world premier in Monte Carlo and at its Arts Council England screening in London, shortly afterwards. The film has been reviewed in The Evening Standard and included in a Sleaze Nation feature of b-boy culture, which described it 'small but juicy' and tipped director Oliver Ashton as a name to watch. The Jaffaman marks the third creative collaboration between Robert Hylton, Oliver Ashton and composer DJ Billy Biznizz. Their previous films are, Urban Voodoo and Urban Classicism. Both having been toured internationally by the British Council as representations of modern British dance, and reaching audiences as far flung as South Africa, Brazil, and Alaska.
Funded by Arts Council England Capture Award 2002
Urban Voodoo: Directed by Oliver Ashton, conceived by Robert Hylton and Oliver Ashton music by Billy Biznizz (5 mins)
Urban Voodoo is about a DJ wizard who transmits Hip Hop tunes over London using only his Kung Fu hands and his master mix record decks. His vibe seeks people, making them lose control and dance through the streets of London and up to his rooftop lair. Like a master puppeteer, the wizard then fires up another master mix to create an electric Hip Hop and scratch dance war.
Urban Classicism: Short film by Oliver Ashton, Robert Hylton (4 mins)
Robert Hylton dances the hypnotic thoughts of passers by in the Hip Hop, Jazz, Fandango of South London street style.
Conceived by Robert Hylton and Oliver Ashton
Directed by Oliver Ashton
Music by Billy Biznizz