Monday 2 April 2018 (Tonight!)
TV: LENNY HENRY THE COMMONWEALTH KID (BBC ONE ENGLAND)
“In a revealing and emotional journey, Lenny Henry travels to the Caribbean to investigate his own heritage and the relationship between the Commonwealth, the Caribbean and the UK. Lenny’s life would be very different without the influence of the Commonwealth. Because of it, his parents were able to move to Dudley from Jamaica in the 1950s, putting Lenny on the path to fame and fortune in the UK. Lenny examines the deep-rooted and complicated connection between the Caribbean and Great Britain and the role the Commonwealth plays in this relationship. Where did this organisation, made up of 53 countries and 2.3 billion people, come from? How can it survive its legacy of empire and slavery? Does it have any role in the 21st century? Lenny sets off on a tour into the body, mind and soul of the Caribbean, to investigate the experiences of those who live so far from the UK, but remain members of this vast and populous club. He travels back to Jamaica to investigate his own beginnings and finds out why, 60 years ago, his mother uprooted the family to travel thousands of miles to the rainy Midlands. He meets his older brother Seymour for a tour of the remote and rural plot he would have called home if the Henrys had remained on the island. He visits a lush rum plantation in an attempt to understand what life was like for his ancestors – African slaves brought to the Caribbean against their will. Lenny spends time with Commonwealth champion Rasheed Dwyer and Olympian Sashalee Forbes and hangs out at a Chronixx gig to hear what importance, if any, the Commonwealth has to Jamaicans today. In Antigua, Lenny traces the roots of why the British ended up in the Caribbean in the first place, and meets some of the ex-pats who have decided to make the Caribbean their home. Finally he travels to Barbuda to visit the island community devastated by Hurricane Irma, to hear tragic tales from survivors and consider the role the Commonwealth could play in the future around the world. Meeting a collection of real people along the way – street vendors and historians, teachers and students, entrepreneurs and politicians, as well as members of his own family – Lenny examines the special bond that exists between the people of the Caribbean and the UK, a microcosm of the wider relationship between all of the people of the Commonwealth.”
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Tuesday 3 April 2018 – Saturday 7 April 2018
THEATRE: BLACK (BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE, LONDON)
“Nikki doesn’t think that her Dad is a racist, he just cares deeply about his community. But when a Zimbabwean family move in over the road, the dog won’t stop barking, the local kids start lobbing stones and her Dad starts laying down the law. This provocative and engaging show from 20 Stories High digs deep at the heart of racial tensions in the UK today. Written by award-winning writer Keith Saha with live lyricism and DJ soundscapes from CHUNKY.”
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Wednesday 4 April 2018
SHORT FILMS & DOCUMENTARIES.: DIASPORA – TRAILS OF MIGRATION, (SHORTS ON TAP, LONDON)
“A selection of short films and documentaries narrating & depicting the stories of ordinary people, in their journeys to their ‘promised land’. Migration, immigration, adaptability in the 21st century. Featuring short film screenings, live ACT ONE performances by Belle Scar & Josh Gardner, Q&As with the filmmakers and special guests.” FILM PROGRAMME
NATIONAL ANTHEM (09:23) UK, 2017 by Hamza Jeetooa
LITTLE REBEL (09:48) USA, 2017 by Aimie Vallat & Guido Ronge
THE REFUGEE’S SONG (03:30) UK, 2017 by Richard Slater
CORRIDORS (20:17) Greece, 2017 by Karmit Zilberman
PROMISED LAND (04:32) UK, 2016 by Ray Burnside
FEEL LIKE GOING HOME (31:18) Germany/Romania 2017, by Jessica Marina Klein
TRAIN TO PEACE (09:52) Germany 2016, by Jakob Weyde & Jost Althoff
Doors open at 6:30pm for a pint&networking session and ACT ONE live performance.
Film screenings start at 7:30pm. Q&As until 10:30pm. The screening room is situated at the back of the venue. Seats are first-come-first-serve. #ShortsOnTap #LoveShortFilm
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Wednesday 4 April 2018
NEWHAM EXHIBITION CELEBRATES SOCIAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGNERS FROM THE US TO THE EAST END (CUSTOM HOUSE AND CANNING TOWN COMMUNITY NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE AND LIBRARY, LONDON)
“50 years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we will also remember stories of Black and Asian British people who took a stand against racism and won. In 1966, Asquith Xavier, a porter at Marylebone station, applied to be a guard at Euston and was rejected because of the ‘colour bar’ which was legal at the time. Hear his daughter Maria Xavier talk about how he challenged the authorities and see the plaque dedicated to him at Euston today. In 1982 Goga Khan was one of the Newham 8, a group of young Asians whose case upheld the right of self defence and highlighted racism in the police force. When they appeared in court hundreds of Newham schoolchildren went on strike to join the pickets. Hear Goga tell the Newham 8 story.”
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Thursday 5 April 2018
FILM: CITY OF GHOSTS (WHIRLED CINEMA, LONDON)
“A real-life international thriller, City of Ghosts exposes a new type of warfare: a battle over ideas, a fight for hearts and minds, a conflict over clicks and views. Captivating in its immediacy, it follows the journey of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently – a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. With astonishing, deeply personal access, this is the story of a brave group of citizen journalists as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile, risking their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today. Directed, produced, and filmed by Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land, 2015 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award), City of Ghosts is a singularly powerful cinematic experience that is sure to shake audiences to their core as it elevates the canon of one of the most talented and exciting documentary filmmakers working today.”
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Friday 6 April 2018
BOOK LAUNCH: HEIRLOOMS FROM ASIA BY THE STEPNEY COMMUNITY TRUST (RICH MIX, LONDON)
“You are invited to celebrate the achievements of thirteen individuals who researched on East India Company objects at the V&A and wrote the book. Join us and receive your FREE COPY of the book. Authors: Ahmed Chowdhury, Bhaskar Dasgupta, Charlotte Hopkins, Fiona Pettit, Mukhtaar Ahmed, Naajia Ahmed, Naomi Calligaro, Narelle Dore, Nasima Khanom, Safiyah Islam, Sagar Sumaria, Saif Osmani and Sylvain Platevoet. PROGRAMME: 7.00pm: Door open, light refreshment, networking / talking to the authors/7.30pm: Welcome, introduction and short presentations from several authors and a representative from the V&A/7.45pm: Q&A with the authors/8.15pm: Entertainment (music, stand-up comedy and dance). Details TBC. 9.00pm: Close.”
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Tuesday 10 April 2018
FILM: THROUGH OUR EYES + Q&A (BERTHA DOCHOUSE, LONDON)
UK Premiere. Dir: Samir Mehanovic United Kingdom / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Germany / Lebanon / 2018 / 70mins. In sequences filmed over four years, director Samir Mehanovic gives us a wholly fresh and personal insight into the human catastrophe of the Syrian conflict. A Muslim refugee himself, Mehanovic fled Bosnia in the 1990s and settled in the UK. Drawing on his own experience of claiming asylum, he travels to meet Syrian refugees in camps, on trains and in their new countries of exile, to understand the lives of families fleeing their homes. Featuring music written and performed by refugees, Through Our Eyes is a vivid examination of the consequences of war and displacement, which western media often fail to convey. This special Premiere screening will be followed by a Q&A with Samir Mehanovic.
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Tuesday 10 April 2018
FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION: THE DESTRUCTION OF MEMORY (WATERSHED, BRISTOL)
“Over the past century, cultural destruction has wrought catastrophic results across the globe. This war against culture is not over – it’s been steadily increasing. In Syria and Iraq, the ‘cradle of civilization’, millennia of culture are being destroyed. The push to protect, salvage and rebuild has moved in step with the destruction. Legislation and policy have played a role, but heroic individuals have fought back, risking and losing their lives to protect not just other human beings, but our cultural identity– to save the record of who we are. Based on the book Robert Bevan, “The Destruction of Memory” tells the whole story – looking not just at the ongoing actions of Daesh (ISIS) and at other contemporary situations, but revealing the decisions of the past that allowed the issue to remain hidden in the shadows for so many years. Featuring interviews with the former Director-General of UNESCO, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and a wide range of international experts and activists, the film highlights the destruction of cultural heritage in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere and argues that this destruction is not simply an consequence of conflict but rather a targeted, systematic effort to erase the cultures and identities of entire peoples – a war on culture that has, in fact, been waged for decades. With an introduction and post-screening discussion with director Tim Slade.”
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Wednesday 11 April – Sunday 29 April 2018
EAST END FILM FESTIVAL (VARIOUS VENUES, LONDON)
“Founded in 2000, the East End Film Festival is one of the UK’s largest film festivals. An annual multi-platform festival held in London, the EEFF presents a rich and diverse programme of international premieres, industry masterclasses, free pop-up screenings and immersive live events. The EEFF’s mission is to discover, support, and exhibit pioneering work by global and local independent filmmakers, and to introduce viewers to innovative and challenging cinematic experiences.”
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Until Saturday 14 April 2018
THEATRE: SANKARA: THE RISE & FALL OF AN AFRICAN HERO (COCKPIT THEATRE, LONDON)
“Produced and presented by Kernel Live Ltd. Written & Directed by Ricky Dujany.
“Homeland or death we will win!” Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” inspires the unforgettable epic story of African hero Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Sankara brought an unprecedented change in the mentality of his country, refused foreign aid (under the slogan “he who feeds you, controls you”), nationalised all land and mineral wealth, promoted work for everyone to reach food self-sufficiency and build the first railway. He was also the first African leader to favour women’s rights and to appoint them as key Ministers. He started an ambitious plan to fight desertification by planting thousands of trees, promoted mass vaccination, and overtly denounced the dark mechanisms behind Africa’s odious debt (namely World Bank and IMF) which are the cause of today’s World crisis, despite the silence of mainstream media about it. Fully aware of his tragic destiny, and just days before his assassination, Thomas Sankara pronounced the famous words “while revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you can’t kill ideas”.”
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Until Sunday 22 April 2018
EXHIBITION: A REVOLUTIONARY LEGACY HAITI AND TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE (BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON)
“This display features a selection of objects, artworks and poetry from the 18th century to the present. Together, they explore the legacy of the Haitian Revolution and its leader Toussaint L’Ouverture. L’Ouverture was one of the leading figures in the Haitian Revolution, which began in 1791 as an uprising of enslaved men and women in what was then the French sugar colony of Saint-Domingue. It culminated with the outlawing of slavery there and the establishment of the Republic of Haiti. The display features representations of Toussaint L’Ouverture, including a work by African American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000), showing L’Ouverture as a powerful revolutionary general. For Lawrence and his contemporaries in 1930s America, the radical history of Haiti became an important reference point in debates about rights, race and ethnicity. The United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. During this period, Vodou – a religion practised by people in the African diaspora, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as ‘voodoo’ – was suppressed. Vodou had played an important role in the Revolution of 1791, uniting communities and helping enslaved people to organise themselves against injustice. Another key object in the show is a Haitian Vodou boula drum, seized by US Marines during the occupation, and on display in the Museum for the first time. Haitian-born artist and anthropologist Gina Athena Ulysse’s contemporary juxtaposition of Vodou chant with words of anti-imperial protest provides an audio accompaniment. The legacy of the Revolution is showcased through objects made at the time and centuries later – a banknote featuring female revolutionary Sanité Bélair, William Blake’s illuminated poetry celebrating slave revolution, a coin commemorating the abolition of slavery, and C L R James’s influential account of the Revolution, Black Jacobins, reissued during the US Civil Rights movement. Together, this wide variety of objects highlights the reach of the Haitian Revolution across both time and space, and this display reminds us that the struggles first begun in Haiti are still crucial in our world today.”
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