The New Black (TNB) Film Festival 2012 - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
THE second year of The New Black (TNB) BHM Festival is packed with 12 specially curated documentaries and features, for a festival of film complimented by debate and performance, creating a rich and stimulating cultural extravaganza.
The festival opens on Monday, October 1, 2012 and runs through to Thursday, October 25 at City Screen cinemas across London, including Brixton, Hackney and Stratford.
Headlined by the controversial Hidden Colors, which re-writes black global history, the theme of TNB BHM 2012 is Shh! The Secret Lives of Everyday People delving into the closet of black communities, in the hope of bringing out into the open issues that have remained swept under the carpet.
Among its highlights, meanwhile, is a screening of the Oscar-tipped Beasts of the Southern Wild (pictured), which one this year’s top prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
This programme also marks the 25th anniversary of Black History Month and to highlight this significant milestone, the festival is screening work by inspiring and emerging independent Black filmmakers from the UK, US, Jamaica and South Africa.
With many cuts being made to local authority budgets for Black History Month, this represents an opportunity to secure the ongoing annual showcase of often untold stories by filmmakers from the African Diaspora.
TNB is proud to be supported by Film London through National Lottery Funding on behalf of the BFI to ensure a wide and varied provision of film in the capital, as well as Diabetes UK – since the disease is up to five times more common in African/African Caribbean communities than in the general population.
It is also partnered by NUSHO, a health organisation, which is setting up health zones for the early detection of other life-threatening illnesses before selected screenings.
Priscilla Igwe, Programmer, commented: “This is truly progress when, in this great year of sport, TNB has been supported to tell other amazing human stories of triumph over adversity, focusing on your gift and claiming who you are, through its unique programming.”
TNB BHM 2012 is also a platform for artists and performers such as singers, spoken word poets, dancers, designers and so on thanks to the extraordinary spaces for film, art exhibition & marketplace available at the Ritzy, Hackney and Stratford East Picturehouses with African Caribbean catering and is currently home for TNB monthly film club.
Visit www.tnbfc.co.uk to download the festival guide or visit Facebook for further updates.
Screening schedule (all October 2012):
1 – Hidden Colors Ritzy Picturehouse
3 – Hidden Colors Hackney Picturehouse
4 – Hidden Colors Stratford Picturehouse
8 – Visibly Invisible Ritzy Picturehouse
8 – Breathe Again Ritzy Picturehouse
10 – Otelo Burning Hackney Picturehouse
11 – Stud Life Stratford Picturehouse
15 – Beasts of the Southern Wild Ritzy Picturehouse
17 – The Prodigal Son Hackney Picturehouse
17 – On The Trail of My Father Hackney Picturehouse
18 – Ghett’a Life Stratford Picturehouse
22 – Leave It On The Floor Ritzy Picturehouse
24 – Better Mus Come Hackney Picturehouse
25 – One Mile Away Stratford Picturehouse