Film and TV

The Uhuru International Black Film Festival launches on October 13
advertisement

Unity group launches Black Film Festival

By Sally Bryant
September 15, 2011

Lights will be dimmed across Reading when a voluntary organisation salutes Black History Month with the Uhuru International Black Film Festival.

The venture is a first for Unity Arts Music and Multimedia, an organisation which focuses on providing training in media-based skills for unemployed and disadvantaged young people.

Unity founder John Sailsman hopes the two-week festival, launching on October 13, will appeal to a wider audience.

He said: “This is an opportunity for the black community to present its culture in a nice kind of way. The films come from all over the world and there is a good mix of documentaries and films.

“I’ve seen a lot of these films at festivals, and I thought, why aren’t we seeing these [in Reading]? Everybody is really missing out on a strong and entertaining experience.”

The gala premiere will screen The Story Of Lovers Rock, an affectionate look at the 70s reggae movement, at The Oracle’s Vue cinema.

Director Menelik Shabbazz will be on hand for a question and answer session afterwards.

The same format will be used at Reading Museum on Sunday, October 16, for Local Shorts. The film-makers will be at the showing to discuss their short films. And the director of documentary Nubian Spirit will be at its screening at the Reading International Solidarity Centre.

The festival will be a showcase for 14 films and documentaries, including the classic musical Carmen Jones at the Rising Sun arts centre in Silver Street.

The gala finale will be Fire In Babylon, a documentary about how the West Indies cricket team “blackwashed” the British team and reigned supreme in the late 70s and 80s. This will be at the South Street Arts Centre, where Unity is based.

The festival is funded by £3,000 from the Earley Charity and support from other local organisations. Unity Arts is staging it in conjunction with Kuumba Nia Arts and the African Caribbean Community Association.

Organiser Mr Sailsman is certain the festival will appeal to all film-lovers.

He said: “This fulfils the idea of Black History Month and also gives people a few nice evenings out. There will be group discussions after all the films.

“It’s big in terms of the heart that goes into it, but some films will be shown in community centres through a laptop on to a screen, so it’s a community festival.”

A festival ticket costs £12.50 and will get one person in to five films (excluding the premiere and closing event, and the Reading Film Theatre showing of The First Grader).

Go to www.unityartsonline.com for full details.

Tickets can be bought via www.readingarts.com or by calling 0118 960 6060.

| Submit Comments | View Comments (1)

« Previous Story | Next Story »

Most recent user comments 1 of 1

Show 15 | 25 | 50 per page

I wish this all the best and hope to make it to a couple of the films - but I think running it for almost the exact same dates as the London Film Festival is a little bit odd. I know the main audience for this might not be the same, and key purposes for this festival should be achieved anyway, but I think finally putting a great film festival out in Reading again would be better if it didn't directly clash with the main one in the UK, a few miles to the east. A great line up of films for Reading though!