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Drum: BLACK WORLD
Black World kicks off on 2nd June with special screenings
and launch parties throughout the UK: London, Bristol,
Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. Over the
summer months the line-up celebrates black creativity on
the screen and related artforms. Events include film and
TV seasons, DVD releases, debates, DJs and VJs.
On 2nd June the British Film Institute’s Black World starts off
in spectacular style with a six city preview of Mario Van
Peebles’, Baadasssss!, the retelling of the true story of his
father, Melvin’s, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song which
sparked the birth of independent black cinema, was embraced
by the Black Panthers as a revolutionary masterpiece and put
Earth, Wind and Fire on the map!
From June, throughout the summer months and into the
Autumn the bfi National Film Theatre (NFT) is the place to
see and be seen. This London location plays host to another
film revolutionary, Ousmane Sembene – the award-winning
director of the first black African feature film. Sembene
honours Black World with a personal appearance and this is
supported by a retrospective of his work.
The NFT also plays host to screenings of rare video footage
from the TV archives in the Black Music on TV seasons
including performances from Grandmaster Flash through to
Prince and Aretha Franklin. Music plays a key role within Black
World’s programme and contributions also manifest in the
form of club-nights by Blacktronica and a performance from
New York’s DJ Spooky.
The Black World initiative aims to inspire and engage
newcomers to screen arts as well as film aficionados. The
programme includes open masterclasses, workshops and