From the Archives: Big City Stories

Please note that there will be no adverts or trailers prior to screening(s) of this programme. The programme will start at the time listed.

Booking is essential for this FREE screening. Please call the Box Office on 020 8444 6789 to reserve your seat as booking is not available online for this event.

Black London’s Film Heritage presents Big City Stories, a collection of film extracts depicting Black London in the twentieth century. Big City Stories is a new, fresh perspective on early Black London life in an expanding and ever changing metropolis. The selected footage reveals the shifting and often contrasting perceptions about the African and Caribbean citizens of London at various historical periods across the century: the 1930s, World War II, and from the 1950s onward when areas such as Brixton and Notting Hill gained iconic significance. Big City Stories features non-fiction images from the very earliest years of British cinema alongside fiction films, which present dramatic interpretations of Black London's stories over the years. The programme brings together the personal perspectives of some African-Caribbean “home movies”, with those of established directors and images from official archives.

The screening will be introduced by Yvonne Connike, a member of the Black London's Film Heritage team. The screening will be followed by a discussion with June Givanni and Imruh Bakari, curators of Big City Stories, Stephen Bourne, Britain’s leading authority on black film history and Kunle Olulode, chair of The New Black network of leading exhibitors of black film.

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.