Sheffield DocFest: Alternate Realities

Immersive work, Collateral Echoes, is the centrepiece of this year’s Alternate Realities exhibition. From artist and filmmaker Baff Akoto, this new installation commemorates the potential, personalities and memories of Black and Immigrant Britons disproportionately killed after police contact since 1969.

Collateral Echoes combines XR, moving image and immersive sound design to present first-person testimonies, archival imagery and performance.

Including spoken prose from Paapa Essiedu and poetry by the late, great Benjamin Zephaniah, the exhibition memorialises those killed – and gives voice to the communities who survive them – in this exploration of nostalgia, loss, grief and joy.

Collateral Echoes premieres during Sheffield DocFest (18-23 June) and will remain open to the public until 13 July at Site Gallery. There will also be a Virtual Reality Cinema in Site’s Studio I throughout the festival, including explorations of ADHD and protest movements, to a love story about the meaning of home for queer communities.