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Williams Gamaker revisits the life of Merle Oberon to expose the racial politics of early cinema and examines how Oberon’s mixed heritage was erased under the pressures of Hollywood’s racial hierarchies.
Strange Evidence is a genre bending Body Horror/Film Noir, focusing on 1930s screen star and Academy Award nominee Merle Oberon, who kept her mixed Sri Lankan, Indian and British heritage secret to protect her industry status, passing as white until her death in 1979. Under the aegis of Alexander Korda’s London Films, as a contracted star she became its resident so-called “exotic” playing stereotypical roles.
Together with the Studios, Merle falsified her past claiming she was born in Tasmania to British parents. She also controlled how she was photographed, relying on make-up, lighting, dermabrasion and skin-bleaching procedures, which caused cosmetic poisoning and allergic reactions.
Williams Gamaker’s project sensitively approaches Oberon’s story, exploring self-censorship, racial stigma and trauma, looking with nuance at complex decisions shaped by racial prejudice and restrictive conditions of labour, which still impact screen artists today.
During this exhibition the gallery will become a hybrid installation/working film studio, with the set of this new film serving as the focal point of the exhibition.
Williams Gamaker (b.1979, London) was joint winner of Film London’s Jarman Award (2020) and has an extensive national and international profile, including prestigious BFI London Film Festivals (2017, 2018, 2021), Aesthetica (winner of Best Experimental Film, 2021, 2023) and LSFF (2022, 2024).
