The Black Lens Film Festival launches this week.
Binti – But Where Are You Really From?
In partnership with the Black Cultural Archives and Alt Africa the opening night took place on Friday (16 July); the Festival opened at BFI Southbank with the UK Premiere of How to Stop a Recurring Dream (Ed Morris, 2021) followed by a Q&A, hosted by Brenda Emmanus OBE, a seasoned broadcaster and journalist. The Q&A was with director Ed Morris and actor Ruby Barker. How to Stop a Recurring Dream is a high-octane thriller in which a young woman kidnaps her younger sister and goes on the run.
You can catch How to Stop a Recurring Dream, part of the festival offering on Monday 19 July, alongside the following festival events:
Mangrove 9 and Racism: Not our Problem & panel discussion
Monday, July 19, 2021
3:00 PM 5:30 PM
Catford Mews Cinema
How to Stop a Recurring Dream
Monday, July 19, 2021
6:00 PM 7:30 PM
Catford Mews Cinema
Black Lens Film Festival presents Director, Remi Morris’ How to Stop a Recurring Dream.
Uprisings! 40 years on: Policing and Demands
Monday, July 19, 2021
6:00 PM 7:30 PM
The Uprisings in 1981 were a response to social and political conditions in the UK including systemic over-policing, notably seen in Brixton during ‘Operation Swamp 81’ alongside the disproportionate effects of the ‘Sus’ law on Black communities.
To mark 40 years since these Uprisings across the country, this panel discussion will focus on the organising initiatives undertaken in response to these conditions.
We will also explore the changing nature of demands by Black communities in the face of over-policing and brutality, centring initiatives that challenge and resist.
While We Live – But Where Are You Really From?
Continuing the theme at the BFI throughout July, But Where Are You Really From? will be a season of films celebrating filmmakers who redefine, reject and re-establish identity and heritage labels. Curated by T A P E Collective, the season will launch with a week-long takeover by T A P E of the BFI’s online channels. T A P E will curate brand new films and collections on BFI Player, present online interviews and discussions, produce a zine and commission a digital exhibition of portraits responding to the cinematic themes of But Where Are You Really From? The season will include classics and work from new voices, from Ousmane Sembène’s ground-breaking debut Black Girl (1966) and Fatih Akin’s heart-wrenching Head-On (2004), to the beautifully considered and lyrical debut Eyimofe (Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri, 2020) and Norway’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Academy Awards, What Will People Say (Iram Haq, 2017).
To discover more visit: blackculturalarchives.org/events and whatson.bfi.org.uk/
