The UK’s Windrush Caribbean Film Festival is readying its fourth edition, which will be the first to run under the artistic direction of Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, the founder of the British Urban Film Festival.
The festival will honour the 75th anniversary of the arrrival of the Windrush generation in the UK, the people from the Caribbean countries who came to work in the nascent National Health Service and the sectors facing a post-war labour shortage between 1948 and the early 1970s. HMT Empire Windrush was one of the ships that carried them to the UK.
Windrush Caribbean Film Festival was founded by Patricia Hamzahee, Garry Stewart and Frances-Anne Soloman, with the aim of showcasing the work of Black creatives on screen and reinforcing the impact of contributions from the Windrush generation to the UK.
The official selection comprises of features and shorts. Documentary features to be selected include Hostile, directed, written and produced by Sonita Gale, about the UK’s complicated relationship with its migrant communities, told through the stories of four participants from Black and Asian backgrounds. HumaniTree was created by eight young Welsh filmmakers. It explores the evidence of human origins in Africa, and how black people spread across the globe seeding civilisations. Benjamin Zephaniah writes and appears in Standing Firm: Football’s Windrush Story, directed by Theo Lee Ray. The feature examines the impact Caribbean migration has had on football in the UK.
Scroll down for the feature film selection
Opening night will take place in Southampton’s Mast Mayflower Studios and Harbour Lights Picturehouse. Southampton, a port city with historical ties to the Windrush generation, will host film screenings from the festival on June 6 and June 21, the day before National Windrush Day.
Further venues include Bristol’s Watershed; Birmingham’s Midlands Art Centre; Newport’s Riverfront Cinema; London’s Rich Mix, Genesis, Rio, Channel 4 headquarters, Picturehouse Central and Ritzy.
This year will see the inaugural Menelik Shabazz legacy award. It has been created in honour of late UK filmmaker Menelik Shabazz, referred to as the “godfather Black British cinema”.
At a launch event last week that took place at London’s Rich Mix, Stewart said: “Our aim this year is to make sure we honour and recognise 75 years of Black British filmmakers. The Windrush Caribbean Film Festival is not just a labour of love, but a demonstration of determination to see Black excellence on screen. For too long Black actors, production, filmmakers have struggled not only with finding finance, but to make and see their work on screen. The festival is a celebration of their work, from dream to realisation.”
Windrush Caribbean Film Festival 2023 official selection - feature films
After the Flood: The Church, Slavery And Reconciliation (UK)
Dir. Sheila Marshall
Death Of England: Face To Face (UK)
Dir. Clint Dyer
Hostile (UK)
Dir. Sonita Gale
HumaniTree (UK)
Dir. Urban Circle Productions
Pattern (Canada)
Dir. Ivan Madeira
Shantaye’s World (St Lucia)
Dir. Matherine Emmanuel
Standing Firm: Football’s Windrush Story (UK)
Dir. Theo Lee Ray
Sus (UK)
Dir. Robert Heath
The ID Project: My Dominica Story (UK-Dominica)
Dir. Richard Etienne
Ultraviolence (UK)
Dir. Ken Fero
V.Rocket International: A Sound System Dynasty (UK-Jamaica-US)
Dir. Marcus Hall
No comments yet