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In The Hour Of Chaos Hip Hop Art & Activism...

H. Samy Alim is a Professor at UCLA, a linguistic anthropologist and educator

whose work explores the intersections of language, race, and culture. He has written

widely on Hip Hop culture, Black language practices, and educational justice, and is

a leading voice in critical language studies.

Samuel Lamontagne is a Professor of Music at UC Riverside and a co-lead of

UCLA’s Hip Hop Initiative. He is a scholar of hip-hop and electronic music from

the African diaspora, specializing in Los Angeles's musical cultures.

Tabia Shawel is a Ph.D. Candidate at UCLA. She co-leads the university’s ground-

breaking Hip Hop Initiative, positioning UCLA as a global hub for hip-hop

scholarship through artist residencies, archives, public programming, and

postdoctoral fellowships.

Regal Reverie (Untitled)

Almasi is a Nairobi- and Atlanta-based photographer and creative director

whose work blurs the lines between fashion, mood, and storytelling. Known for crafting

cinematic visuals through rich tones and dynamic compositions, Almasi captures

moments that feel both bold and timeless. With a vision rooted in style and narrative,

their work transforms everyday textures and forms into poetic imagery, offering

audiences an evocative lens into beauty, culture, and identity.

Director Statement : With Regal Reverie (Untitled), I set out to explore the idea of

regality — not through crowns or palaces, but through the presence of the African

woman herself. The three muses embody a timeless grace and power that transcends

time, echoing the elegance often associated with Victorian aesthetics but reframed

through my own lens.

Fashion enters the film as an extension of this vision: garments made from scraps and

unexpected materials become symbols of resourcefulness and imagination, proving thatbeauty and majesty are not bound to luxury. Instead, they live in creativity, resilience,

and the way one carries themselves.

This film is a reverie — a dreamlike homage to African women as muses, as icons, as

living testaments to regality in its truest form. Our hope is that viewers see not only

fashion, but the spirit and essence of women who remain radiant regardless of

circumstance.

Have You Heard Judi Singh?

Baljit Sangra is an award-winning, Vancouver-based filmmaker whose films

shine a light on underrepresented and marginalized voices and stories. Sangra’s films

have routinely premiered at festivals around the world.