What To Watch by NFTS Curating Student Joseph Wallace - Black History Month 2022

As part of Black History Month 2022, Joseph Wallace, a current student on our Film Studies, Programming & Curation MA and member of the NFTS Black Society has curated a ‘What To Watch’ list for October.

Building his 10 selections around Black History Month's 2022 theme of ‘Time for Change: Action Not Words’, Joseph’s selection is made up of a cross section of films that cover black history, heritage, challenges and culture. 

Joseph comments: “There is no canon for Black film. There are no awards that record a 100-year-plus journey with all the romanticism of a Golden Age. In the official record of ‘British Films’ filmmakers of colour are often relegated to a single chapter. We cannot wait for established magazines’ Greatest Films Of All Time lists, prime-time slots or Academy Award nominations.

The below is not a comprehensive list, and certainly not definitive, but hopefully one that connects overlooked debut features to more contemporary British talent, giving not just the opportunity to champion this cinematic heritage, but to feel the genuine excitement of what is yet to come. So watch one today, not tomorrow, and continue to forge ahead.”

Films listed in chronological order.

Soleil Ô

Director Med Hondo | 1970

One of Africa’s legendary directors immigrated to France aged 23, and made this – his first feature – when he was in his late 30s. Made over the span of 4 years, this semi-autobiographical film opens in Paris, the representation of French colonisation and factory for racism, with a fervent migrant ambition to find work and ancestral links in equal measure. An uncompromisingly complex, fiercely intelligent and, at times, appropriately deadpan journey into the transformational and transgressive nature of seeing through the veil of emancipation. A film for radical late night self-discoveries.

98 mins. Mauritania-France.

Burning An Illusion

Director Melenik Shabazz | 1981

Finally restored by the BFI (and recently released on Blu-ray), this is undoubtedly one of Britain’s very best films that hinges its narrative in uncharted territories of dominating cultural assimilation, the working components, and an all-too-familiar dissatisfaction with modern living. Though Thatcher’s reign is long over and the film’s social backdrop somewhat dated (seeing Notting Hill as an affordable neighbourhood is jarring to say the least), the personal challenges that Pat experiences from her friends and co-workers when she begins to develop a sense of self are very much present. A great film to watch in a small group to discuss after.

106 mins. UK.

The Watermelon Woman

Director Cheryl Dunye | 1996

The only American film in the list, and what a landmark film it is – the very first feature film directed by a black lesbian woman (and recently selected for preservation in the National Film Library no less). Aspiring filmmakers who also know the artistic bareness of having to film other people’s “happiest day” (aka wedding videos) will no doubt relate to Dunye’s semi-meta version of herself; a young and all-too-eager film buff and full-time video store clerk pining to make her own film. Taking a semi-documentary form, the film pushes filmmaking conventions right to its edge, with the discovery of a forgotten Hollywood film, “Plantation Memories”. Her investigations into a strikingly magnetic black actress (playing the stereotypical “mammy” role of the time) reveals how the power of fiction is harnessed, not just by movies, but by history itself. It’s the ‘90s, so play some grunge to get in the mood.

90 mins. USA.

Bye Bye Africa

Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun | 1999

Of all this film’s power – and there’s a lot – it is the inner-conflict of its opening scene that really sticks. Somewhere in France, in the middle of the night, he receives a phone call from N’Djamena, his mother has died. In an instant this  great distance feels both greater and closer. And as the news slowly sinks in, we sense that Haroun (playing a version of himself) regrets time wasted. He packs up and heads back to Chad, where he begins working on his new film, the titular “Bye Bye Africa”. While the film-within-a-film conceit may sound contrived, it in fact best represents the contradictory dynamic of wanting to be on the inside of a community yet remaining firmly out. Dust off your analogue camera, you’ll want to film everyone you meet.

86 mins. Chad.

Tower XYZ

Director Ayo Akingbade | 2016

“Let’s get rid of the ghetto” is the rebellious chorus to this uber-short, inverted commercial-esque guide to Hackney. The multi-ethnic vibrancy of its young tower-block residents is the perfect echo to the Ministry of Housing property films of the ‘60s, that (unsurprisingly) featured no communities of colour. Hopefully this short provides the perfect springboard to Akingbade’s other incredible work.

3 mins. UK.

Something Said

Director Jay Bernard | 2017

This short, pamphlet-sized film is a pointedly angry yet sensitive poem that examines the mechanisms of systemic racism and a personal relationship to national identity in the shadow of the New Cross Fire, 1981. Bernard’s words take us where no official inquiry can, these 7-minutes offer a weightless vision of action with grounded implications few can refute. It’s also expertly filmed by NFTS’s very own Rufai ‘Roo’ Ajala.

7 mins. UK.

The Last Tree

Director Shola Amoo | 2019

Proof that not all action need be loud, Shola Amoo’s feature debut centres on Femi, an introspective teenager whose somewhat idyllic Lincolnshire life with his foster parent is suddenly upended with the return of his birth mother. His move back to London and subsequent journey to Lagos further compound his uncertainty of ancestry, seemingly pulled in different cultural directions. Its understated and contemplative direction towards race was perhaps too subtle for the BAFTA membership however, where it failed to receive a single nomination.

99 mins. UK.

This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection

Director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese | 2019

If you have only one film to watch from this list, make it this, and watch it on the biggest screen possible. When an elderly widow, shocked by the sudden death of her only surviving family member, prepares for her own funeral she unwittingly ignites a defiant spirit when plans to flood the village for a dam are revealed. Mosese’s film is one of the most textured films, with the screen used rightly as the canvas it is. But it is to the credit of Mosese’s humanity and deep reverence to ecology and community that ensures that his visionary style never outshines indigenous contributors. An extraordinary work.

120 mins. Lesotho/South Africa.

Atlantics (Original title: Atlantique)

Director Mati Diop | 2019

Mati Diop’s feature debut is something of a revelation to me. I’ve seen it 4 times already and likely many more to come. Set in Dakar, we open with a frenetic scene of young men demanding their rightful wages, long overdue. In the hot sun they all travel back home in the back of a pickup truck, along the bustling shoreline (setting a haunting motif). The scene of their protest slowly comes into view: an obscenely large and unfittingly modern glass skyscraper. The overworked Souleiman returns home, and quickly into the arms of Ada, who’s soon to be married to another man. They arrange to meet later, but they never do. Instead, we stay with Ada’s journey, and into the mysterious and haunting world of exploitation, migration, crime and grief. Have no doubt, it's a genuine masterpiece.

104 mins. France-Senegal.

Teju’s Tale

Director Teniola Zara King | 2021

Set in the 1950s (with great production design), Teju arrives at an imposing English country manor from Laos with the aim of becoming a nurse. Her ambition and good faith is soon challenged when confronted by racist colleagues who demand to see her “tail”. The film’s effective final shot, cut to King’s own writer/director credit, makes the cinematic statement ever more clearer: the importance of telling your own story.

15 mins. UK.

Teju’s Tale Trailer from DBK Studios on Vimeo.

The variety of unique stories and themes these films explore prove that filmmaking and storytelling is only made richer by diversity and inclusion and how, by talking about them, we can increase the recognition of Black talent and pave the way for future generations to come.

“My mum arrived from Nairobi to Coventry in 1963, when she was 2. The first film she saw in a cinema that was directed by a black filmmaker was Do the Right Thing (1989); she was 28. I called her and asked what it meant to her to see films made by people of colour and she said, without hesitation, “Well, I’d have made some films if I'd known I could”.

The problem has never been a lack of stories or perspectives, but a lack of attention, of economic opportunity and mutual respect. People that come to this country with nothing often have the most to say, but rarely have the means of expression. Cinema is a tool that needs to be accessible, and we need to push for that, truly for everybody, so that no one ever has to wonder at 2am what their mum’s films would’ve looked like; they’d just watch them.”

Find out more about Joseph’s course:

Film Studies Programming & Curation MA

2 years | Full-time | Run in partnership with BFI

This is a ground-breaking MA prepares you to build a successful career in film exhibition, programming, criticism or archival work.

The course is delivered by film professionals in exhibition and distribution, festivals, archives and film criticism, alongside academics and filmmakers.

Find out more: nfts.co.uk/curating