WHITE WALLS

As marginalised people, the horror genre offers us permission to tremble, scream or show alarm in the context of a world that seeks to suppress our expression. It allows us to explore stories, mythologies, archetypes and speculative worlds of marginalised people through radical imagination.

WHITE WALLS is the latest project (May – Oct 2025) as part of Healing Justice Ldn’s creative experimental container IN PRACTICE. In the context of our suffering and projection of ‘monstrosity’ onto marginalised people, WHITE WALLS is a creative experiment to ask how we can turn the lens onto society: (re)identifying society as a site of horror, and exploring how we might heal from this. Stewarded by Aiyana Goodfellow.

The Film

This experimental fiction, horror-genre short film explores the lived experiences of neurodivergent, mentally ill, disabled, and mad people within the mental health industrial complex. It was created in collaboration with predominantly neurodivergent Black & Brown writers, cast and crew.

Marginalised communities have long had our stories and histories silenced, destroyed, denied and delegitimised. Yet amidst this cultural violence, people have resisted by creating underground, unfunded films and writing scripts that push boundaries, refusing to allow capitalism to rob us of an art form we deserve to take part in.

Horror and healing may seem paradoxical at the surface, but often are deeply intertwined. Experiences of horror are often an invitation towards healing, supporting us to reclaim fear and discomfort from systems of oppression and enable us to be emotionally resilient as we long for a better world.

Artistic Responses

Creativity’s role in revolution is often to pose questions rather than arrive at answers. To continue to exploration, we invited artists to bring their own interpretations of the film, some utilising a somatic or body-based practice and others exploring through animation and visual art.

In a world where institutions and systems oppress and atomise us, we can be held and healed in community. This workshop challenged the traditional idea that the film is a “full stop” and that we as an audience are passive participants. Instead, in a simple gesture of mutual witnessing, this poetry workshop extended the collaborative process of the film.
The resulting poems: “Chaos” and “Loom”, go beyond what any one individual can create in isolation. They are a celebration of what we can do when we come together to think, create and feel out loud; embracing the imperfection of improvisation, the messiness of community and what it means to love and care, even through the pain. by Zish

‘You Are Horror And Beauty In Rare Combination’ depicts the Octavia Butler quote featured at the start of the film, alongside an illustration of bodily sinews and ligaments, emphasising the visceral aspect of embodiment, and exploring the layers of the body that are less visible. By Sophie Hoyle

Living in a Box is an animated short film that explores abstraction of the self through shapes, textures, movement and sound. This piece hopes to contemplate and give form to the unseen world of the overwhelmed/oppressed and to sit with the discomfort of internal reflection. By Hita Asodia

Hita Adia Bi:

faded photocopy of PIP form with the text 'would you like me to take possession of your body' over

‘Institutionalised Poetry’ is a series of pieces that respond to the questions asked of the protagonist in WHITE WALLS. Distorted example pages from PIP forms foreshadow the pieces, prompting the words to disrupt institutionalised models of so-called “health care”. Incorporating, both digital & hand written text, each response was curated by experimenting with the ways somatic practices create space for the body to answer in ways that bureaucracy can’t – allowing Evie to honour their humanity while tending to a part of their past that still haunts them. By Evie Muir

The camera in and of itself is a site of reclamation and power. It is the surveillance in our streets: a weapon of the state. It is the documentation of our deaths: a weapon of the people. Our access to life beyond our own is often through the camera. This is how we are able to so accurately and acutely understand the worldviews of marginalised peoples we might never have connected with.

Photo by Amelia Wornell. The cinematography and use of light reflects the horrors of society, which don’t hide in shadows, but stand proudly in plain view.

For disabled people, creativity has been key to exposing and resisting the violence of the system. Artistic labour and creative resistance allow us to highlight the brutal absurdities of the system; offer us the power to shift culture; and can resource us/others in depleting conditions, allowing us to dream of more life-affirming systems within and beyond the State.

Zine

As a space to archive the project, reflect on the process and gather the components together, this zine was designed by Niharika Pore.

WHITE WALLS Screening Panel

Creative Research

“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” – Cesar A. Cruz

This project launched with a research process that helped us ensure that the outcomes of the project are rooted in cultural strategy, collective wisdoms, and shared experiences.

Read/listen to the interactive research summary or watch a video version on YouTube.

Photo by Amelia Wornell. The film uses stillness to confront the audience, making it part of the experience to sit with discomfort and unease.

Initial Vision & Writers Room

Creation of the film was a collaborative process led by Aiyana Goodfellow, with predominantly Black & Brown neurodivergent writers, visual notetaker, project design, pre- and post-production, cast and crew. With care infrastructure and embodiment practices, the writers room brought together movement workers, artists, and community builders to reflect, practice and share testimony.

Visual notes by Julius Nasol.

Aiyana expressed initial imaginings for the project through mind maps. The ideas were then developed in conversation with HJL’s wider team.

The look book for WHITE WALLS brought together the aesthetic identity of the project. To create a cohesive vision of mood, tone and visuals, the project involved building a deck of creative references.

With gratitude to: Tumba Katanda, Sé Carr, Cassandra Hercules, the Healing Justice Ldn team, Day Eve Komet, Jordaine Kehinde, Nabeela Talib, Zish, GOKE, Tasnim Mahdy, Amias Hanley, Rowan Allen, Freya Shi, Hannah Shaikh, Beth Wood, Hollie Garven, Amelia Wornell, Alina Smart, Camelia Muldermans, Cici Goodfellow, Evie Muir, Molly Lipson, Julius Nasol, Sophie Hoyle, Hita Asodia, Feed The Village, London LGBTQ+ Community Centre, Soif Studios, What the Pitta & the HJL ecosystem.