“Aimée becoming MD of a profitable, commercial, inclusive children’s publisher is a statement – we’re not done, in fact Knights Of is just getting started”…
Congratulations to Aimée Felone, who has been made @KnightsOf’s MD as co-founder David Stevens steps back.
Full article on The Bookseller website: https://buff.ly/31UlLb2
Art: Tate talk – Join artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye for this exclusive live online event.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye in conversation with Thelma Golden | Tate Talks
Live: 29 March 2021 – 18:35 start.
This fabulous film sees Gloria Allen, known as ‘Mama Gloria’ , tell her life story as a trans woman in Chicago’s black trans community.
A beautiful look at her life, family, school friends, work at the Centre on Halstead, and growing old.
Book now online on the BFI website.
Other films still available:
• AIDS DIVA: The Legend of Connie Norman
• Colors of Tobi
• Cowboys
• Cured
• Dramarama
• Rurangi
• The Greenhouse
PLUS: All the BFI Flare 2021
Short Films are FREE to WATCH.
It’s arrived, the 35th BFI Flare film festival. Twelve days of screening, 26 feature films, and 38 free short films, from 23 countries. All films are available online on the BFI Player from the 17th-28th March. There will also be talks available on BFI YouTube and BFI Flare Facebook, including a Screen Talk with actor Russell Tovey. All widely available wherever you are in the UK.
The festival kicks off with the International premiere of JUMP, DARLING. A heartfelt family drama about a drag queen reconnecting with his aging grandmother, featuring a stunning performance from the late Hollywood legend Cloris Leachman in her final starring role, and there are more films to see, immerse yourself in and live through.
Our 2021 selection of Feature and Short films to see at the festival, includes films from Kenya, Canada, Israel, Portugal, France, Brazil, Germany, the UK and USA. There are films about love, activism, and campaigning, with some focusing on individuals and groups that made a difference. Tickets can be purchased on the BFI website.
BODIES includes stories of sex, identity and transformation.
I Am Samuel
This is as much a film about Kenya’s complex cultural landscape as it is about two young men who must keep their love a secret. As Murimi notes, ‘Most Kenyans are poor and live in rural areas or informal urban settlements where they cannot afford to hide dangerous secrets like their sexuality’. Filmed over the course of five years, I Am Samuel details how daily life is navigated, with both men negotiating their place in the world as heirs to a traditional way of life. At the same time, we are privileged to witness their commitment, daring and imagination as figures in the queer Kenyan underground. Murimi holds his gaze as he stares this fraught and troubling subject in the face.
Kenya, United Kingdom, USA, Germany, Netherlands, Canada, South Africa 2020 | 70 minutes
Directed by: Pete Murimi
On a day unlike any other, Tunde Johnson is confronted with both his sexuality and his race. After coming out to his parents, he is the victim of a racially motivated shooting. Instead of dying he repeatedly undergoes re-incarnation, but the opportunity to do things differently and avoid the tragic consequences of his actions meets the harsh reality of being black and queer in the US. A fresh take on the time loop narrative, The Obituary of Tunde Johnson examines the overlaps of wealth and race, beauty and sexuality, creating a disturbing universe where even the hereafter is a restless limbo upon which the burden of straddling many worlds at once constantly weighs.
USA 2019 | 104 minutes
Directed by: Ali LeRoi
Featuring: Steven Silver, Spencer Neville, Nicola Peltz
Valentina wishes the only complications in her life were crushes on cute boys and fake IDs to go clubbing. But as a transgender teen in Brazil today, she faces significant social stigma and bureaucratic barriers. Her steadfast mum will do anything to smooth the path, so together they start over in a new town where nobody knows Valentina is trans. She becomes fast friends with a sweet gay guy and a pregnant computer nerd, but when they find themselves separated at a drunken party Valentina is harassed by someone who threatens to out her. However, with her steely support network and a maturity and resolve far beyond her years, she steamrollers the haters in this timely and transcendent drama.
Brazil 2020 | 95 minutes
Directed by: Cássio Pereira dos Santos
Featuring: Thiessa Woinbackk, Guta Stresser, Rômulo Braga
Shana Myara’s documentary focuses on fat and fierce babes in Canada who are using their creativity to clap back at a diet culture that seeks to shrink marginalised bodies. Interviewees all tell stories of struggle, self-actualisation and radicalisation, and taking back charge in a fatphobic, racist heteronormative society. Here, fatness, queer identity and race intersect in unique ways that never get represented in film, underlined with a fat-ass bass soundtrack and gorgeous animation. It’s a truly liberating film, and through its use of burlesque, comedy, dance circus, media and more, you will be left in no doubt of the intrinsic value of ALL bodies. DIY, direct and full of heart, Well Rounded takes us through personal stories of terror and triumph – this is the fat queer film we’ve been waiting for!
Canada 2020 | 61 minutes
Directed by: Shana Myara
Featuring: Candy Palmater, Ivory, Lydia Okello
HEARTS includes films about love, romance and friendsh
Boy Meets Boy
It’s Harry’s final day in Berlin, and he has been partying for the last 48 hours. On the sweaty euphoria of the dancefloor he shares a kiss with Johannes. Striking up a conversation, Johannes offers to help Harry print his boarding pass, leading them to spend the rest of the day wandering the city streets together. But with Harry’s imminent flight back to the UKlooming, the pair are quickly forced to understand the true impact of this brief encounter. Boasting beautifully natural performances from Matthew James Morrison and Alexandros Koutsoulis, Boy Meets Boy is a distinctly modern queer love story, exploring the complexities of attraction and power of connection in ways that are both refreshingly realistic and achingly romantic.
Germany 2021 | 75 minutes
Directed by: Daniel Sánchez López
Featuring: Alexandros Koutsoulis, Matthew James Morrison
Sweetheart
The last place socially awkward 17-year-old AJ wants to be is on holiday at the seaside with her oh-so-annoying family. Dragged along by put-upon mum Tina, AJ is determined not to have fun. When she discovers the campsite doesn’t even have Wi-Fi, it promises to be the worst week of her life. But then a chance meeting with resident lifeguard Isla changes AJ’s perspective. Perhaps being stuck there with no means of escape isn’t so bad when there is the chance she could fall in love for the first time. Marley Morrison’s debut feature is a refreshing take on the coming-of-age story. Playing it confidently for laughs, with some dramatic currents underpinning the action, it features a knockout performance by Nell Barlow as the misunderstood AJ. A delight throughout and not to be missed.
United Kingdom 2021 | 103 minutes
Directed by: Marley Morrison
Featuring: Nell Barlow, Jo Hartley, Ella-Rae Smith
MINDS features reflections on art, politics and community.
Mama Gloria
Described as a ‘love letter to a charismatic activist’, Fisher’s heartfelt debut is a warm and honest depiction of trans life in Chicago’s Black community. Gloria Allen, also known as ‘Mama Gloria’, narrates her life from early childhood and becoming a fixture of the ball scene in Chicago’s South Side to creating a charm school for local trans girls, proving that trans women can live to old age. Gloria’s unique perspective dispels the myth that aggressive racism only existed in the southern states, and from that context the film confronts the distressing violence that has punctuated her life. Nonetheless, it is a life lived with the support of deep family ties, buoyed by faith and carried forward with remarkable kindness.
USA 2020 | 76 minutes
Directed by: Luchina Fisher
Featuring: Gloria Allen
Rebel Dykes
It’s finally here! After a rabble-rousing preview at Flare 2016, Rebel Dykes returns in all its ass-kicking, leather-wearing glory. The film follows a tight-knit group of friends who met at Greenham Common peace camp and went on to become artists, performers, musicians and activists in London. A heady mash-up of animation, archive footage and interviews tells the story of a radical scene: squatters, BDSM nightclubs, anti-Thatcher rallies, protests demanding action around AIDS and the fierce ties of chosen family. This is an extraordinarily privileged glimpse into a bygone world by those who not only lived out their politics with heartfelt conviction but lived to tell the tale.
United Kingdom 2021 | 82 minutes
Directed by: Harri Shanahan, Sîan Williams
Featuring: Siobhan Fahey
The Greenhouse – Discovering a way to travel back in time helps Beth come to terms with her present in this daringly original debut.
No Ordinary Man – The fascinating story of pioneering jazz musician Billy Tipton is brought thrillingly to life in this celebratory documentary portrait.
Includes insight from scholar, author, and activist, C. Riley Snorton on the interaction with Black musicians.
P.S. Burn This Letter Please – When a cache of letters written by 1950s New York drag queens was discovered in 2014, filmmakers Michael Seligman and Jennifer Tiexiera tracked down the authors to hear their story.
There is a brief and fascinating look at the Harlem drag scene at that time.
Beginnings and Endings
From an unexpectedly eventful train journey, to the end of the world, this stunning collection of shorts explores the trials and triumphs of being your true self.
Buck – In an attempt to deal with his depression, Lynn goes out into the night looking for a good time.
Dirs. Elegance Bratton, Jovan James. USA 2020, 14mins.
Cosmopolitan – Jacob faces racial prejudice when he attempts to enter a gay nightclub.
Dir. Moran Nakar. Israel 2020, 7mins.
For the Record
Traversing a wide range of subjects, this inspiring selection of short form documentaries is guaranteed to provoke and inspire in equal measures.
Above the Troubled Water – Three Nigerian men are scattered across the globe after escaping homophobic violence.
Dir. Joe Cohen. United Kingdom, USA 2020, 38mins.
Tracing Utopia – Young queers connect in a sci-fi dream world to build a war machine of love and a virtual manifesto for the future.
Dirs. Catarina de Sousa, Nick Tyson. Portugal, USA 2021, 27mins.
Heart’s Desires
History, geography and personal circumstances may change but challenges facing the heart are timeless and universal.
The Act – One young man faces up to the joys and perils of living a gay life amidst the sexual repressiveness of pre-1967 London.
Dir. Thomas Hescott. United Kingdom 2020, 18mins.
Isaac and the Ram – A tense encounter between a young man in distress and his reluctant saviour.
Dir. Jason Bradbury. United Kingdom 2020, 15mins.
Of Hearts and Castles – When two lonely men meet they discover something revealing about each other and themselves.
Dir. Rubén Navarro. USA, Spain 2020, 14mins.
Into the Unknown
The blurred lines of love and friendship between women are explored in these poignant and beautiful short films.
The Cost of Living – Lily is stuck in a state of ennui, until Death comes along in the form of a beautiful woman and entices her to live.
Dir. Alice Trueman. United Kingdom 2021, 13mins.
Love Is a Hand Grenade – Mixing drink, drugs and a friendship on eggshells was always going to be an explosive mix in this bittersweet British mini drama.
Dir. Jessica Benhamou. United Kingdom 2020, 13mins.
Queer as in Question Everything
Here’s a collection of funny, sweet and strange shorts for the natural contrarian.
Acrimonious – Hilarious, heart-breaking and relatable all at once – how to bounce back when a breakup crashes you back down to earth?
Dir. Olivia Emden. United Kingdom 2020, 14mins.
Pure – Whoever you are, whatever your desires, you too shall go to the prom!
Dir. Natalie Harris. USA 2020, 12mins.
We Two – A smart, meditative take on the gulf that emerges between ex-lovers.
Dir. Grace Porter. United Kingdom 2020, 3mins.
Shapes We Make, Spaces We Take
Our relationship to our bodies and our homes have become more complex than ever. These five shorts up the ante, exploring where, how and with whom we feel at home.
Space / Walk – Two queer people talk intergenerational experience down on England’s south coast.
Dirs. Tarik Elmoutawakil, Amina Yousif, Carmen D’Cruz. United Kingdom 2020, 23mins.
Transitions II: Movement in Isolation – Aesthetically bold, visually rich – a beautiful non-linear encounter with the physical and social dimensions of chronic pain.
Dir. Tobi Adebajo. Nigeria, United Kingdom 2020, 12mins.
Striving to Be Seen
Inquisitive tales of resilience, memory and enlightenment in this largely fictional selection, traversing an expanse of trans experience across Europe and the Americas.
Dustin – A wild drug-fuelled ride and the long morning after follows the highs and lows of a Parisian party queen.
Dir. Naïla Guiguet. France 2020, 20mins.
Unliveable – Those close to a missing trans woman join forces to search for her, until a strange canister points towards an extra-terrestrial mystery.
Dirs. Matheus Farias, Enock Carvalho. Brazil 2020, 20mins.
From 7 to 18 October the BFI London Film Festival will be the first ever edition to be widely accessible wherever you are in the UK, with over 50 virtual premieres, free online events and cinema screenings across the land.
2020 has been the most extraordinary year and the London Film Festival follows the trend in bringing something completely new to the year. The 64th BFI London Film Festival this year is not bound by London, you can see films all over the country. To add to that, the festival this year is providing many opportunities to see over 50 virtual premieres via the BFI’s online platform. It’s a change that may affect the festival for many years to come which isn’t a bad thing. It’s great that the festival can go ahead this year even though the World has had the Coronavirus pandemic to deal with. So many things ground to a halt, but it hasn’t stopped the festival, and in this landmark year, there are still loads of films to see, immerse yourself in and live through.
In addition to the short films and feature films, the BFI London Film Festival is offering LFF Expanded – a set of films and experiences – an augmented reality, and AI-driven Virtual Reality -experiment. Some of the content on offer is best viewed via a VR headset, but many also offer direct viewing via your web access.
Here is our 2020 selection of films, LFF Expanded and events. Highlights include two films from Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series – Mangrove and Lovers Rock. Regina King’s directorial debut with One Night In Miami, based on Kemp Powers stage play about a night in Miami with Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. Kemp Power also brings Pixar movie, Soul co directed with Pete Docter and featuring Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, and Phylicia Rashad. Yemi Bamiro’s One Man and His Shoes looks at the legacy of Nikes, Michael Jordon promoted, basketball shoes, Air Jordons. Time takes us on a 20-year campaign by wife Fox Richardson to get her husband released from a life sentence, and 15 years after his film, Injustice charting deaths in custody, Ken Fero brings us Ultraviolence.
ALSO SEE OUR SHORT FILM SELECTION
African Apocalypse:
Cicada:
One Man and His Shoes:
Time:
Ultraviolence:
DEBATE
“The Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill doubled as a community centre for Black Londoners to exchange ideas and to commune. As police brutality and harassment intensified, the Mangrove also became a site of resistance leading to the wrongful arrest for incitement to riot of nine local activists including Altheia Jones-LeCointe (Letitia Wright) and Darcus Howe (Malachi Kirby). Oscar-winner Steve McQueen’s depiction of the infamous 55-day trial is a moving instalment from his Small Axe anthology series, a collection of films that evoke memories, political events and a critical perspective on life for London’s West Indian community between the 1960s and 1980s.”
United Kingdom 2019 | 126 minutes
Directed by: Steve McQueen
Featuring: Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes, Malachi Kirby, Rochenda Sandall, Jack Lowden
LOVE
“A New York-based Angolan man finally reunited with his wife and daughter – Esther and Sylvia arrive from Angola to live with Walter, who left his war-torn homeland 17 years ago. Sharing a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, they try to rebuild their lives together and overcome the personal and political differences that developed in their years apart. Walter accepts that he can no longer play the role of the single man, while Esther has become a devout Christian, secretly sending what little they earn to her church back home. Meanwhile, Sylvia tries to adjust to life in this foreign land.”
USA 2019 | 101 minutes
Directed by: Ekwa Msangi
Featuring: Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Zainab Jah, Jayme Lawson
DEBATE
“Fox Richardson has spent over 20 years campaigning for the release of her husband, who was sentenced to life without parole for a botched armed robbery. At the same time, she single-handedly raised six sensitive and bright sons. Garrett Bradley’s (America) feature showcases her tremendous talent and ambition, deftly combining home video archive and contemporary footage of Fox and her sons, presenting a remarkably resilient woman who transformed from being collateral damage of the US penal system into an inspirational campaigner. Enhanced by stunning black and white photography and an evocative blues score. An epic personal journey of hardship and hope, it reveals the devastating effects of mass incarceration on Black communities in America.”
USA 2020 | 81 minutes
Directed by: Garrett Bradley
JOURNEY
“Samuel was born and raised on a farm in rural Kenya. Moving to its capital, Nairobi, he meets and falls in love with Alex. Samuel’s father, a preacher at his local village church a few miles from the capital, expects his son to marry and looks forward to the day when he brings home a daughter-in-law. While Alex and Samuel’s love for each other thrives, they remain constantly aware of the shadows of violence creeping around them. After all, under the Kenyan constitution’s penal code, introduced by the British some 100 years ago, homosexual acts carry a 14-year prison sentence.”
Content warning: this film contains scenes of homophobic violence.
Kenya 2020
Directed by: Pete Murimi
JOURNEY
“The rich tones and complex hues of the Esiri brothers’ striking portrait of migration highlights what is left behind. Set in Lagos and divided into the provocatively titled chapters ‘Spain’ and ‘Italy’, we follow Mofe (Jude Akuwudike), a factory technician and Rosa (Temi Ami-Williams), a hairdresser as tragedy and survival fuel their desires for a better life’ in Europe. Captured with stoic precision on 16mm, Eyimofe (This is My Desire) resists the temptation of high drama to show the sprawling city and the forces that propel its unique social dynamic. The elegant directorial eye of Arie and Chuko Esiri combined with skilful performances from Akuwudike and Ami-Williams mark the film as another great contribution to the burgeoning independent Nigerian new wave.
Nigeria 2019 | 114 minutes
Directed by: Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri
Featuring: Jude Akuwudike, Tomiwa Edun, Temi Ami-Williams
DEBATE
Episodes 1, 2 and 4
“An investment bank’s graduate programme is a hotbed of ambition and insecurity in this timely, tightly-plotted drama. Led by rising star Myha’la Herrold, these friends and rivals navigate a toxic culture of ego, excess and the legacy of the 2008 financial crisis as they compete for permanent jobs. Lena Dunham directs the first episode with verve, providing a typically frank lens on sex, drugs and millennial vulnerability. Writers Kay and Down subvert expectations at every turn, delivering a fresh and incisive exploration of race, class and the price of success.”
UK 2019 | c.145 minutes
Directed by: Lena Dunham, Tinge Krishnan, Ed Lilly
JOURNEY
“Based on Kemp Powers’ award-winning stage play, One Night in Miami… is the imagined story of what followed 22-year-old Muhammad Ali’s (Eli Goree) 1964 victory over heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. Sat ringside are Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). The film explores the personal and political conflicts faced by the men — balancing their public image in a world where the pinnacle of success for a black person was to be a sportsperson or entertainer, alongside their drive to fight for black liberation. The conversations that followed were not without conflict and King’s depictions of their lives apart from each other is as much a testament to the strength of their character as it is the power of the film’s thrilling narrative. This was a meeting of minds on a historic night.“
USA 2020 | 111 minutes
Directed by ; Regina King
Featuring: Ben-Adir Kingsley, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom Jr
FAMILY
“Jamie Foxx is Joe Gardner, a music teacher who lives for his art. Just as his professional career is about to take off, a fateful mishap finds him embarking on an unexpected journey of self-discovery to The Great Before, an incredible place where new souls are born. Unfolding across a series of beautifully realised worlds, Soul takes a refreshing look at how we become ourselves. With an all-star cast that includes Hamilton’s Daveed Diggs, Angela Bassett and Tina Fey, Docter and co-director Kemp Powers along with producer Dana Murray have crafted a universal narrative that will appeal to all ages, and a universe that is as smart and life-affirming as it is funny and exciting. The perfect film for your heart, body and, well…soul.”
USA 2020 | c100 minutes
Directed by: Pete Docter, co-directed by Kemp Powers
Featuring: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad
LOVE
“New York City, 2013. Introspective bisexual Ben drifts from one casual encounter to the next. While his recent relationships barely last past morning, things change when he meets Sam, a handsome stranger with whom he forms an immediate connection. But as they spend more time together, both men begin to recognise the need to confront past traumas if they are to truly let the other person in. Based on personal experience, writer/director/star Matt Fifer and co-director Kieran Mulcare have crafted a richly textured drama, tackling complex subjects with grace, delicacy and uncompromising honesty. Fifer’s sympathetic central performance is ably matched by co-writer Sheldon D Brown’s nuanced turn as Sam, with the pair establishing an effortless on-screen connection that brings real heart to their timely and, ultimately, hopeful tale.”
USA 2020 | 93 minutes
Directed by: Matt Fifer, Kieran Mulcare
Featuring: Matt Fifer, Sheldon D. Brown, Sandra Bauleo
DEBATE
“Since 1969, there have been over 2000 deaths in police custody in the UK. It is a frightening statistic that Ken Fero approaches with seasoned conviction. 15 years after his ground-breaking film Injustice, Ultraviolence employs unflinching archival footage to document the tragic and undignified deaths that took place between 1995 and 2005. Victims include Fero’s classmate Brian Douglas and Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot and killed whilst travelling on the London underground. With intimate access to a variety of sources, Fero encounters families devastated by these killings and subsequently thwarted in their struggle for justice. Ultraviolence shows a corrupt system failing UK citizens.”
United Kingdom 2020 | 75 minutes
Directed by: Ken Fero
DEBATE
“South Londoner Yemi Bamiro follows his impressive short works with a debut feature documentary of scale – examining the cultural and commercial phenomena of Michael Jordan against the increasing commodification of Black culture and a lack of corporate accountability. A sportsman with once-in-a-generation talent, Jordan was held up as a symbol of Black progress; he had his own phenomenally successful trainer brand that made Nike one of the most profitable companies in the world. Bamiro deftly charts the rise of Jordan against 80’s and 90’s pop culture milestones: hip hop, Spike Lee, the emergence of the mega-watt and mega-rich sports personalities. He also highlights how brands became savvy manipulators of youth culture by stoking America’s toxic obsession with consumerism and celebrity in a climate of increasing class and race inequality.”
United Kingdom 2020
Directed by: Yemi Bamiro
CREATE
“‘Do we get stupider as we grow up?’ In his wildly popular Broadway show American Utopia, Byrne reflects on human connections, life and how on earth we work through it. He joins the dots with his music and it all starts making sense. Spike Lee here transforms the production into immersive, dynamic cinema that radiates with astounding performances, inventive contemporary dance and political urgency. American Utopia flows like an iridescent dream vision. Work by James Baldwin, Janelle Monáe and Kurt Schwitters is highlighted among exhilarating renditions of Byrne’s solo work as well as Talking Heads classics. According to the multi-hyphenate, we love looking at humans more than anything else. Anti-fascist and anti-racist, Byrne illuminates our responsibility to care for one another as he and his co-performers burn down the house.”
USA 2020 | 105 minutes
Directed by: Spike Lee
Featuring: David Byrne, Jaqueline Acevedo, Gustavo di Dalva, Bobby Wooton III
DEBATE
“When British-Nigerian poet and activist Femi Nylander discovered Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the novel that Barack Obama claims helped him understand why ‘white people are afraid’, he was immediately drawn to understanding this distorted vision of Africa. Embarking on a spiritual journey to Niger, Femi uncovers the violent legacy of the real-life counterpart to Conrad’s novel, French Captain Paul Voulet, whose genocidal mission in 1898 can still be felt today, through subsequent generations of his victims. A brutal indictment of colonialism that never shies away from the horrifying terrorism Africans endured under colonial rule.”
United Kingdom, Niger 2020 | 88 minutes
Directed by: Rob Lemkin
JOURNEY
“Limbo is at once deadpan comedy and also poignant tale of a group of refugees stuck, pending asylum, on a weather-beaten Hebridean outpost, the Uists. Sharrock cites Elia Suleiman as an inspiration and here too we see a deep humanism behind the wry gaze and a desire to move beyond cross cultural narratives of simple reconciliation. Rising UK star Amir El-Masry impresses as Omar, one of four men in this ‘limbo’ together, who find a bond in the shared strangeness of their situation and distance from their own countries and families.”
United Kingdom 2020 | 103 minutes
Directed by: Ben Sharrock
Featuring: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Kwabena Ansah, Ola Orebiyi
LOVE
“Another in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe collection of vivid memories, political indictments and historical artefacts depicting Black West Indian presence in London. In this edition, it’s a Saturday sometime in the 80s, Samson preps his sound system for Blues dance while Martha shimmies down her drainpipe, and Franklin, drenched in Brut, is primed to steal a heart. Red Stripe costs a pound, sweat drips from the walls as hips lock to the rhythm of lovers’ rock, and souls are possessed by dub vibrations. McQueen’s roving camera and luminous cast spread out and fill the screen. Inviting us to remember, not so much the good times, as the spectres of racism and violence loom, but the risk and reward of letting go for a night.”
United Kingdom 2020 | 68 minutes
Directed by: Steve McQueen
Written by: Courttia Newland, Steve McQueen
Featuring: Amarah-Jae St Aubyn, Michael Ward, Shaniqua Okwok, Kedar Williams-Stirling
Available 7th-18th October 2020
The National Theatre’s musical VR experience transports the viewer into a vibrant theatrical world inspired by the influence of Caribbean culture upon the UK music scene.
You’ll need an Oculus Rift, Rift S or HTC Vive tethered headset to experience this work for free
UK, 2019 | 14 minutes
World Premiere (Individual Audience Version)
Format: 6DOF
Devised and Directed by Toby Coffey
Composed by Raffy Bushman & Nubiya Brandon
Lyrics by Nubiya Brandon
One of the most influential VR documentaries of the last few years deals with the recent history of the infamous Aylesbury Estate and its influence on UK housing policy.
You don’t need any special tech to experience this work for free, or you can use a headset.
UK, 2019
World Premiere (360 Version)
Format: 3DoF
Written, Produced and Directed: Darren Emerson
Contributors:
Jean Bartlett, John Boughton, Kevin Holland, Aysen Dennis, Judi Bos, Anthony Badu
Get to know 5 members of the thrilling Ballroom scene in the UK while they explore their gender and sexuality through dance, in this ravishing VR documentary.
Immerse yourselves in the lives of 4 Africa-descended Berliners and Parisians, whose realities offer a window into very different experiences of everyday life. Comprising the Afropean experience, they follow the stories of Bella, Babs, Kwesi, and ShaNon, unified by their origins and cultural backgrounds.
Babs sees his barber shop in Paris as a melting pot for people from all cultural backgrounds and religions to create a shared sense of community.
Angolan-descendant Bella embraces life as a dancer and dance teacher in Berlin.
Kwesi, who works at the Each One Teach One library in Berlin, shares his views on early German colonial aggression on the African continent.
Having migrated at an early age from Uganda, ShaNon believes in the plurality of origins and sees in her heritage so much more than an ‘Afropean’ cultural background.
UK 2020 | 14 minutes
Baff Akoto
World Premiere
Format: VR180
From 7 to 18 October the BFI London Film Festival will be the first ever edition to be widely accessible wherever you are in the UK, with over 50 virtual premieres, free online events and cinema screenings across the land.
2020 has been the most extraordinary year and the London Film Festival follows the trend in bringing something completely new to the year. The 64th BFI London Film Festival this year is not bound by London, you can see films all over the country. To add to that, the festival this year is providing many opportunities to see over 50 virtual premieres via the BFI’s online platform. It’s a change that may affect the festival for many years to come which isn’t a bad thing. It’s great that the festival can go ahead this year even though the World has had the Coronavirus pandemic to deal with. So many things ground to a halt, but it hasn’t stopped the festival, and in this landmark year, there are still loads of films to see, immerse yourself in and live through.
In addition to the short films and feature films, the BFI London Film Festival is offering LFF Expanded – a set of films and experiences – an augmented reality, and AI-driven Virtual Reality -experiment. Some of the content on offer is best viewed via a VR headset, but many also offer direct viewing via your web access.
ALSO SEE OUR FEATURE FILM & LFF EXPANDED SELECTION
Here is our 2020 selection of short films at the festival.
Short Films – available to watch for free on the BFI Player.
Available 7th-18th October 2020
Children worldwide can be unruly, wild and unmanageable. This is all part of growing up, even if it sometimes means going beyond the limits. These films, from the backstreets of Accra in Ghana and the Australian Outback, to rural life in India and Wales, and the dog-eat-dog world of a British estate, perfectly illustrate this.
ChickenYoung Barbara’s mother has just been overcharged at the local supermarket and it’s up to her to go there and sort it out.
Content warning: this film contains scenes of racism.
Australia 2019 | 9 minutes
Directed by: Alana Hicks
Featuring: Mariah Alone, Wendy P. Mocke
Good Night (Da Yie) Two kids chasing chickens and playing football in the backstreets of Accra make friends with a rich guy. Their joie de vivre brings about a change in him.
Content warning: this film contains scenes of animal harm.
Ghana, Belgium 2019 | 20 minutes
Directed by: Anthony Nti
Whether or not the world is a kind and accepting place, these films present grand visions of strength and self-discovery. And on life’s rocky road, there is something to be said for being certain about the person you are.
BuckLynn is caught in a heady mix of depression and self-determination. After a debauched night of setting boundaries and crossing others, he realises his path is his own to define.
Content warning: this film contains scenes of drug use.
USA 2020 | 14 minutes
Directed by: Elegance Bratton, Jovan James
Featuring: Malik Shakur, Biko Eisen-Martin, Simbi Kali
DungareesA story of young love, as a transgender teen and a cis-gender teen spend their time together on a regular night, doing regular things. Or not.
United Kingdom 2020 | 5 minutes
Directed by: Abel Rubinstein
Featuring: Pete MacHale, Ludovic Jean-Francois, Atlanta Hayward
Panthers (Panteres) Joana and Nina are 13-year-old girls on the brink of womanhood, provocatively confronting their female gender, queerness and social norms.
Spain 2020 | 22 minutes
Directed by: Èrika Sánchez Marcos
Featuring: Laia Capdevila, Rimé Kopoború
ShagbandsDuring a sizzling summer in the noughties, a gang of South London schoolgirls face strange sexual awakenings, which culminate in a visceral fate.
Content warning: this film contains scenes of violence.
United Kingdom 2020 | 18 minutes
Directed by: Luna Carmoon
Featuring: Ruby Stokes, Frankie Box
Less peaks, more troughs. Whether it’s secrets or lies, these very personal stories range from the everyday to the far out, with characters who exude resilience and self-determination.
GramercyShaq returns to his hometown for the first time in six months with a lot of baggage. This beautiful and dreamlike exploration of young black manhood explores loss and depression, brotherly love and pure joy.
USA 2019 | 22 minutes
Directed by: Jamil McGinnis, Pat Heywood
Featuring: Shaq Bynes, Karon Tracey, Jihad Marshall
The Spark (Brûle)Maya likes her boss a little too much. As things come to a head she has a choice: to stay quiet or take matters into her own hands.
France 2020 | 23 minutes
Directed by: Elvire Muñoz
Featuring: Lyna Khoudri, Adeline D’hermy
Music, film, faith, costumes and colour lift our spirits and allow us to dream. Strip them away and life might be simpler, but it’s the strength we find in these things that brings us together and, like the characters in these films, makes us eternally interesting.
Henet WardAs her daughter Ward plays, a Sudanese henna painter prepares an Egyptian bride for her wedding. As she paints, complicity is replaced by blame and suspicion.
Egypt 2020 | 22 minutes
Directed by: Morad Mostafa
MotherThrough the power of vogueing, a group of young dancers in a favela in Rio de Janeiro try to find their way in the world in this pulsating documentary.
United Kingdom, Brazil 2020 | 21 minutes
Directed by: Jas Pitt, Kate Stonehill
SalsaIn a Buenos Aires’ hairdressing salon clients, dancers and reggaeton singers find their community. This subtle documentary says a lot, with very little, about the inclusive nature of music.
Argentina, Portugal 2020 | 13 minutes
Directed by: Igor Dimitri
Featuring: Estarlyn Rafael, Jannik Mioducki, Nehuen Zapata
A chance to see some of the best in UK filmmaking talent, with a varied and diverse selection of stories. Crossing genres and styles, from horror and comedy to animation and powerful drama, this is a vital snapshot of new British filmmaking that’s not to be missed.
Dolapo is FineThis rewarding and thoughtful depiction of an ever-relevant issue finds a young black girl about to leave boarding school and encouraged to conform to white beauty standards for a job in the City.
United Kingdom 2019 | 15 minutes
Directed by: Ethosheia Hylton
Featuring: Doyin Ajiboye, Joan Iyiola, Gina McKee
Expensive ShitTolu has a choice: save herself or save her friend. As a nightclub toilet attendant, she is both overlooked by and integral for a group of depraved men set on a hideous act.
Content warning: contains racist slurs.
United Kingdom 2020 | 15 minutes
Directed by: Adura Onashile
Featuring: Modupe Adeyeye, Kim Allan, Nebli Basani
Good Thanks, You?The swirling timeline and strong central performance convey problems in suppressing a traumatic event that is often so hard to talk about.
Content warning: this film contains scenes of sexual abuse.
United Kingdom 2019 | 13 minutes
Directed by: Molly Manning Walker
Featuring: Jasmine Jobson, Micheal Ward, T’Nia Miller
MandemIt’s a sweet day for two drug dealers. Heading out to parties, selling to insanely posh folk and eating patties, these are the little things that make people more than just friends.
Content warning: this film contains scenes of drug use.
United Kingdom 2019 | 10 minutes
Directed by: John Ogunmuyiwa
Featuring: Bradley Banton, Stevie Basaula
Two Single BedsTwo London comedians find sanctuary in each other after a show in Doncaster. Is 170 miles as far from reality as they’re willing to let themselves go?
United Kingdom 2019 | 16 minutes
Directed by: William Stefan Smith
Featuring: Daniel Kaluuya, Seraphina Beh
In a year that has faced many challenges, we look to the perspectives of those we often do not see. In doing so we hold a mirror up to the world we live in. These films offer a moment to reflect and question, as well as engage with communities and their stories.
Dafa MettiIn the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, Senegalese migrants seek to create a better life for themselves and the ones they love.
United Kingdom 2019 | 15 minutes
Directed by: Tal Amiran
LizardJuwon, an 8-year-old girl with an ability to sense danger gets ejected from Sunday school service. She unwittingly witnesses the underbelly in and around a Mega Church in Lagos.
United Kingdom, Nigeria 2020 | 17 minutes
Directed by: Akinola Davies Jr
Featuring: Pamilerin Ayodeji, Osayi Uzamere, Rita Edward
Loose FishA group of boys spend their days seeking work daily in a Moroccan fishing port. Concerned about their future, they decide to save enough money to escape.
Argentina, Morocco, USA 2020 | 15 minutes
Directed by: Francisco Canton, Pato Martinez
This programme considers the futures we might gift, extrapolate or create from our present tensions, through the eyes of those bequeathed. An odyssey of desires from queer to Afrofuturism to the posthuman: all have a stake in this planet and demand a request for a better tomorrow.
GlenvillePortrait based on the first cinematic representation of Afro-American intimacy in the 1898 film Something Good-Negro Kiss.
USA 2020 | 2 minutes
Directed by: Kevin Jerome Everson, Kahlil I. Pedizisai
Featuring: Sabrina McPherson, Hakeem Sharif
Afrofuturism and carnival as resistance at the Junkanoo festival in the Bahamas, from Aesthetica Art Prize winner Rhea Storr.
United Kingdom, Bahamas 2020 | 11 minutes
Directed by: Rhea Storr
The End of Suffering (a proposal)An interplanetary symphony for Sofia.
Greece 2020 | 14 minutes
Directed by: Jacqueline Lentzou
Featuring: Sofia Kokkali
No Go BacksTwo teenagers traverse a post-apocalyptic California in this tale of an inherited wasteland, unprepared resilience and compassion, which points to the beginnings of a new future.
USA 2020 | 33 minutes
Directed by: Stanya Kahn
Featuring: Lenny Dodge-Kahn, Elijah Parks, Marisol Prietto, Serafina Prietto
These films bear testimony to oppressive histories of confinement, restriction, violence, and their consequences. The artists use artefacts of the past to transform our comprehension of historic injustice and to expose colonial strategies of oppression that sought to destroy cultures. Resistance and creativity inevitably immerge in new vibrant ways.
Leave the EdgesA deep and rich exploration of the complex ancestries of African diasporic cultural expression, inspired by post-colonial African spirituality and artistic practices from West Africa to the Caribbean and Europe. It mixes subtle and exquisite film with live choreography to create a visual poem of dynamic interactions between image, dance, ritual and music.
United Kingdom 2020 | 40 minutes
Directed by: Baff Akoto
Featuring: Yane Mareine, Yinka Esi Graves, Julien Béramis
King of SanwiRe-worked footage from an unfinished film by Senegalese director Mamadou Johnny Sekka forms a re-examination of The Jackson 5’s 1974 trip to Dakar.
USA, Ghana 2020 | 7 minutes
Directed by: Akosua Adoma Owusu
No Archive Can Restore YouAn imagining of lost films from the Nigerian Film Unit archive, with distinctive soundscapes, juxtaposed with images of the abandoned interior and exteriors of the building that housed it.
United Kingdom 2020 | 6 minutes
Directed by: Onyeka Igwe
The Map MakersAbstracted footage and audio of bombs dropping on Biafra in 1967 set against a speech by leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, illustrates the ironies of post-colonial warfare.
Nigeria, France 2020 | 17 minutes
Directed by: Newton Aduaka
Missing TimeA new formation of history that includes the fantastical as well as the political in the context of Britain’s decolonial process in Kenya and during the Cold War.
United Kingdom 2019 | 14 minutes
Directed by: Morgan Quaintance
Strange ObjectAn archival investigation into the imperial image-making of the RAF ‘Z Unit’, which determined the destruction of human, animal and cultural life across Somaliland, as well as Africa and Asia.
United Kingdom 2020 | 15 minutes
Directed by: Miranda Pennell
Opens October 17th – 8th November 2020
“A six day digital festival of screenings, discussions and master classes aims to celebrate the contributions and impact of the Windrush generation on life in the UK today. The festival is the brainchild of Solomon whose award-winning film HERO, inspired by WW2 and Windrush hero Ulric Cross, toured the UK to critical acclaim in 2019. Its success was the inspiration for this full blown festival.” (https://alt-africa.com/2020/09/20/windrush-caribbean-film-festival-2020-save-the-date-opens-october-17th-8th-november-2020/)
I saw this superb film at the BFI London Film Festival 2019. You can watch it online for free this weekend as part of the Other Cinemas Weekender.
“Roy Williams’ 846, which will be performed live on the final day of the Greenwich+Docklands international festival in September, is a collection of more than a dozen short audio plays by British playwrights of colour, who were asked to write something in response to Floyd’s death.”
‘Stationary is an award winning short film, captured on location in Kilburn, Brent.
Written and directed by Louis Chan, who grew up in Kensal Rise, it’s about staying put versus moving forward.’
Shared from Brent Borough of Culture 2020.
FREE online now: https://youtu.be/WSvsRe4hqCs
