Films 08

The Sybil Phoenix Story (Loving Hands) 29 March

Plus The Getty Archimedes Story
Saturday 29 March 5-8pm
Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Town Hall Approach
Tube: Seven Sisters. Bus 149,259,243,476,230 Admission £8.00 www.berniegrantcentre.co.uk

* First Black Woman to win MBE (1973)
* Medal of Service winner Guyana (1987)
* National Black Women Achievement award (1992)
* Fellow of Goldsmith College
* Woman of the Year winner (twice)

This event is brought to you in association with www.imagesofblackwomen.com .

From the 1960's Sybil was a foster parent to hundreds of unwanted children. She rasied £64,000, opened and ran Moonshot in New Cross, the first black youth club in Britain. When the National Front burned it down in 1977 she rebuilt it within 4 years. She was a leader in the New Cross Fire campaign and the post Brixton negotiations. In the 1980's she set up the Marsha Phoenix trust for homeless young women. She is now 82 and still active in Lewisham. This film by Lucia Tanmbini contains interviews with Sybil, family and friends. The rare footage shows how bad racism was in the 80's and how much we take for granted now

Getty Archimede, from Guadelope, was the first black woman to become a lawyer in France (1939). She became the first deputy parlimentarian in 1946. She fought tirelessly for women and the poor. This historical documentary by Mariette Monpierre will show the similarities and differences between black womens fight against racism in France and the UK

Mau Mau & History of Kenya, 24 February

Plus Q & A with Kenyans
Sunday 24 February 2pm-5.30pm
Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road SE1Tube: Lambeth North.
Free entry: First come,first served www.iwm.org.uk

Much of the geographic and ethnic divisions currently seen in Kenya were established and encouraged during British colonialism. In February the Kenyan people will sue the British government for human rights abuses commited by their forces. Soldiers who had fought loyally for Britain during World War 2 came back to find white Britsh immigrants living on their fertile land while harassing local women.When Kenyan people fought for their independence, as they were'nt allowed to vote, the British invaders used:

* Torture
* Detention camps for up to 70,000 people
* Castration and blinding
* Fatal whipping
* Rape by British soldiers
* Rape with bottles of hot water

The British Army also used Northern Kenya for military exercises. As a result of leaving unexploded munitions behind, hundreds of Maasai and Samburu people have been killed or maimed by unexploded bombs left laying around over the past 50 years. The British fought the case. In 2002, a settlement was reached in which the UK government agreed to pay 7 million plus legal fees

Seven Songs for Malcolm X by John Akomfrah, 23 February

Saturday 23 February 1pm-4pm
BFI Southbank (near Royal Festival Hall) Belvedere Road SE1
Tube: Waterloo. Free entry: First come,first served

** Best Feature Length Documentary, 1994 Image D'Ailleurs (Paris)
** Best Historical Documentary & Audience Special Merit Awards Winner, 1993 National Black Programming Consortium
** Best Use of Archival Footage in a Documentary, 1993 Chicago Film Festival
This film collects testimonies, eyewitness accounts and dramatic re-enactments to tell the life, legacy, loves, and losses of Malcolm X. Filmed in New York to coincide with the release of Spike Lee's feature film Malcolm X, Akomfrah's documentary features songs, citations and interviews to tell the story of the fearless leader who was assassinated in February 1965. Spike Lee; Malcolm Jarvis, Malcolm X's prison friend; and Betty Shabazz, his widow all appear.

Lumumba plus Q & A with Congolese Association, 17 February

Sunday 17 February 2pm-5.30pm
Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road SE1Tube: Lambeth North.
Free entry: First come,first served (15 years and over) www.iwm.org.uk

European countries were still trading in Africans and chopping off their hands in the 20th century. Forced labour was used in the tin-rich Jos plateau of Nigeria and the diamond mines of the Congo during World War 2 to supply British/allied forces with vital raw materials . Democratic elections in which Africans endorsed Patrice Lumumba (an admirer of Malcolm X and Kwame Nkrumah ) were not accepted by US and European governments. Lumumba's attempts to eradicate slave labour and exploitation were blocked as they interfered with the wealth of foreign countries and corporations. He was assassinated with Belgian and US backing on the 17th January 1961. This incredible film has never been released in this country and was suppressed in the USA.

Malcolm X and British Civil Rights, 16 February

Saturday 16 February 11am-3pm
Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Town Hall Approach. Tube: Seven Sisters. Bus 149,259,243,476,230
Free entry: First come,first served www.berniegrantcentre.co.uk

This event is brought to you in association with Kokayi Saturday School.

February 21st 2008 will be the 43rd anniversary of Malcom X's assassination. His parents were Garveyites and he later carried on their work. Many people have heard of him but many people don't know exactly what he did, or his background. We present an astonishingly rare Oscar- nominated ,1972 documentary with his actual speeches and interviews.It includes footage of Betty Shabbaz, Martin Luther King, Huey P.Newton, Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan, King Faisal, Stokely Carmichael, Jesse Jackson, Elijah Muhammad, Angela Davis, Ossie Davis and more
Plus

African-British Civil Rights Heroes 1596-2006

The bias in schools gives the impression that racism and civil rights was an American issue and totally ignores the struggles Black British people endured. This presentation will give you the names and achievements of those black people born here who fought against British racism over the last 400 years. Please bring pen, pad and a donation.