Reviving Scotland's Black History
What is the ‘Reviving Scotland’s Black History’ programme?
Africa in Motion Film Festival and the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) worked in partnership again this year to host the third edition of the Reviving Scotland’s Black History programme. We brought together aspiring film programmers from different backgrounds to take part in lectures, walking tours, site visits and seminars exploring Black heritage in Scotland. Through this project they learnt about Scotland’s links to slavery, through for example Glasgow’s architecture, as well as Scottish activism against racism.
From the knowledge they acquired the programmers were then tasked with programming events taking place during Africa in Motion Film Festival and Black History Month. These screenings and events are inspired by what they learnt, combined with their own life experiences and passions.
Events in this programme include:
AYE-dentity
Thurs 1 Nov, 7-9pm, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
Stories of Our Lives
Fri 2 Nov, 6.30pm, GMAC, Glasgow
KIBURI
Sat 3 Nov, 9pm, Transmission, Glasgow
Invisible Spaces
10 Nov – 21 Dec, Summerhall, Edinburgh
Reviving Scotland's Black History 2017:
Events curated during the 2017 Reviving Scotland's Black History programme included the ‘Vanishing Sail’ curated by Elizabeth Williams who looked into her Caribbean heritage. The film is set on the tiny island of Carriacou, West Indies, the film follows the last wooden sailboat builder who dreams of saving a great tradition passed down the generations from Scottish settlers that sailed their centuries ago. The screening was followed by a Q&A with producer Justin Sihera, and a Caribbean club night with DJ Yemster. Alysha Somani (who has Tanzanian heritage) programmed the Tanzanian film ‘T-Junction’ looking at muslim communities Dar-es Salaam, this event was followed by chai and mandazi (Tanzanian doughnut). This event attracted a lot of Swahili speaking groups, and had an attendance of over 70 people in total. Elias Tekle an Eritrean refugee chose to programme an Eritrean comedy, ‘Debbas’, for the men’s community group in Maryhill Integration Network. The final event, The Transatlantic Slave Trade Acknowledged, curated by Ailsa Cole, was a very well attended event (over 100 people in total) that examined the transatlantic slave trade and its continued effects. It took place in St John’s Church and we screened two films including the Scottish production ‘1745’ and ‘The Crying Conch’. The screenings were accompanied by a panel discussion on the legacy of the slave trade and its continued effects with Steven Mullen and Geoff Palmer.
Funded by BEMIS Scotland via the ‘2017 Year of History Heritage and Archaeology’. This is a partnership between BEMIS Scotland and the Scottish Government to facilitate diverse, multicultural celebrations.
Reviving Scotland's Black History 2016
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, in 2016 Africa in Motion Film Festival and the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER) worked in partnership to develop a young programmers project entitled ‘Reviving Scotland’s Black History’. We brought together five young aspiring film programmers from different backgrounds to take part in lectures, walking tours, site visits and seminars exploring black heritage in Scotland and the UK. Through this project they discovered Scotland’s links to slavery, through for example Glasgow’s architecture, learnt about the various race riots that have taken place in Scotland from 1916 onwards as well as about Scottish activism against racism.
From the knowledge they acquired the young programmers were then tasked with programming four events taking place during Africa in Motion Film Festival and Black History Month. These screenings and events are inspired by what they learnt, combined with their own life experiences and passions.
Events included a package of short films curated by Jo Reid, looking at LGBTQ+ stories from across the Africa. This event was entitled ‘Queer Africa: Stories from across the continent’ and took place at the Flying Duck bar. ‘The Journey of Antonio’ curated by Tinofara Fombe which drew inspiration from her Grandfather’s journey from Portugal to Mozambique during the period of liberation there, and included a storytelling by her and a screening of ‘The Murmuring Coast’. The third event ‘Colourism’ curated by Wacera Kamonji took place in the Biscuit Factory, Edinburgh curated and looked at cultural conceptions of skin, race and body beauty through a package of short films and was followed by a discussion. The final screening ‘De-Colonising the Image’ was curated by Alasdair Campbell and explored films made during the colonial era by African’s living in France.
